The Program
by Rick E
Summary: A class of 42 students, thinking they have won a free trip to Paris, are instead thrust into a horrifying game of survival...
1. Winning Letter

CONGRATULATIONS, Mr. Michael Hawley! You have won the nationwide contest for an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris with your class! You and the 42 students that you invited will be taken via private jet from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to De Gaulle International Airport in Paris on Friday, July 16, 2010, and will return on Thursday, July 29, 2010. Please verify that the following is the correct class list:

BOYS:

1. Alan Edwards

2. Raphael Dwyer

3. Sam Jenson

4. Francis Baker

5. Manny Barrett

6. Oliver Velize

7. Daniel Masterson

8. Jack Underhill

9. Kurt Falliwell

10. Tommy Ellis

11. George Naly

12. Eric Allen

13. Henry Shaw

14. Vincent Iriloni

15. Warren Gaston

16. Bernie O'Riordan

17. Isaac Yarberg

18. Charlie Davis

19. Zachary Garrett

20. Neil Quinley

21. Phil Raymond

GIRLS:

1. Cassidy Irving

2. Jennifer Springer

3. Heather Young

4. Tina Chen

5. Katheryn Orville

6. Finn Andrews

7. Donna King

8. Wendy Aurille

9. Andrea Harris

10. Pauline Thiessen

11. Becky Hall

12. Lily Carmody

13. Rachel Ferrer

14. Elizabeth Chandler

15. Nora Lightman

16. Ursula Murray

17. Irene Baxter

18. Stacy Jenkins

19. Michelle Pepper

20. Quinn Gilroy

21. Vicky Rivas

If this is the correct list, click here.

*You have verified that this list is correct. Be at the airport at NO LATER than 9:00 AM. The plane will take off at 10:15 AM.

We will greet you at the terminal. You and each student may bring no more than 2 baggage items per person and no more than 1 carry-on item per person. We can't wait to see you and your winning team!

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I decided to change it from a military dictatorship-run program to a class of innocent, middle-class teenagers to make it more tragic.)**


	2. Intro

"Mr. Hawley," said the man who held the contest, named John, "do we have everybody?"

"Yes we do," said Mr. Hawley, the charismatic young French teacher at Hanover High School in Hanover, Massachusetts. "We're ready to go!"

And with that, John signaled the pilot to take off from Logan International Airport in Boston.

The students were in for a seven-hour-long trans-Atlantic flight, but the students were too excited to mind. All of them were ecstatic to be visiting Paris for the first time, except for the wealthiest girl in class, Elizabeth Chandler, who went there when she was nine.

The plane was not very big, but it was big enough for Mr. Hawley's eleventh-grade French class of forty-two students (it was actually two combined classes, one containing nineteen of the students, the other, twenty-three). Mr. Hawley made it clear that they had to keep their grades up in order to go, and he ultimately invited his two best classes. The top student in the bigger class was Sam Jenson, and in the other class it was Becky Hall. Both were two of the best students in their entire junior class, and they were both good friends coincidentally. They sat in the same row as each other, along with Sam's best friend Warren Gaston.

Elizabeth sat next to her two best friends, Irene Baxter and Quinn Gilroy. Irene also came from a wealthy family, but Quinn did not. Her friendship with the other two seemed strange, but she had a lot in common Elizabeth and Irene. All three girls were very attractive; even Mr. Hawley himself found them to be beautiful. But, he knew better than to jeopardize his career.

There were three African-American students in their class: Manny Barrett, Nora Lightman, and Ursula Murray. The former two were good friends, and they used to be friends with Ursula as well, but she had become quiet and withdrawn after her mother was brutally murdered by her stepfather three months before. She did not come to school much, but through Mr. Hawley's encouragement, she decided to join them for the Paris trip because he thought it would be good for her and help her move on somewhat. She still did not talk much, if at all, on the flight, and sat next to Neil Quinley, another introverted student. However, the difference between the two was that Ursula used to be outgoing, while Neil had been withdrawn pretty much since grade school. No one never knew why.

Zachary Garrett and Donna King sat in front of Neil and Ursula. The two had been best friends forever, and had both become goths together. The entire class thought they were really weird for it; not scary, not threatening, just weird. And they knew they were weird. They did not believe in the whole goth mentality; they basically just liked the look and decided to try it out together. And while most gothic kids are depressing and like to be alone, Zachary and Donna were the opposite: they were outgoing and genuinely happy people. On the surface, they looked like a couple, but they were really just good friends. The only time they were ever angry at anyone in their class was when Rachel Ferrer spread a rumor that they were having sex together. Both were actually virgins.

Rachel and her clique seemed to be like the real life "Mean Girls" (before Lindsay Lohan was one of them): they were from affluent backgrounds, but unlike Elizabeth and Irene, who were for the most part friendly, Rachel and her friends Michelle Pepper and Katheryn Orville were three of the meanest, sluttiest, and hottest girls imaginable. They actually had fun making up false stories about people, until they spread a rumor that Ursula actually killed her mother, not her stepfather. Ursula was so angry that she punched Rachel in the face and got herself suspended for a week. Surprisingly, it did not stop the girls from later spreading rumors about Zachary and Donna.

Alan Edwards, the best player on the football team, sat surrounded by the teammates that got to go on the trip with him: Phil Raymond, George Naly, Charlie Davis, and Jack Underhill. None were going to Paris for the scenery, needless to say. All five had been sexually active since freshman year (Alan had so far slept with Rachel, Michelle, Katheryn, Irene, Jennifer Springer, Wendy Aurille, and Tina Chen from their plane alone) and were hoping that they would get some more action in Paris, since they heard rumors that French girls were easier than American girls (given Alan's track record so far, he was especially excited). Seated with them was Eric Allen, the proud school mascot. While most jocks picked on the mascot, Eric was a very funny and likable guy who always put a smile on their faces. He was a lot smaller than most of them (in fact, he was the shortest boy in their entire grade), but he still fit right in with the other guys. In short, the team loved Eric and only playfully messed around with him sometimes but were otherwise not harmful to him.

In the back right corner of the plane sat two of the most feared students in not only their plane, but also the entire school: Daniel Masterson, who had on more than one occasion gotten himself in trouble for threatening to "pull a Columbine" as he put it, and Henry Shaw, who was rumored by everyone to be a white supremacist, which was further believed by the fact that he had been suspended four times for fighting with non-white students (including Manny). Henry sat and listened to his iPod in silence, while Daniel spent the flight watching the Saw movies on his portable DVD player, laughing hysterically at all the blood and gore.

Amidst the loners, the well-to-doers, the preps, the jocks, the plastics, and the weirdos, there sat a group of normal students that were average, everyday teenagers. Kurt Falliwell sat seated next to Lily Carmody, a girl he did not know very well, but chatted with casually for a while. Behind them sat Heather Young and her cousin Andrea Harris, who were so close to one another that they were practically sisters. Francis Baker and Cassidy Irving, the class couple, sat behind the cousins, spending a lot of the time on the flight holding hands or making out. They decided that Paris would be the perfect place for them to have sex for the first time since they started dating three months prior.

The class spent the majority of their time talking and laughing and drinking sodas provided by the flight attendants. Bernie O'Riordan, a friendly basketball player who was surprisingly not as social as other athletes at school, jokingly said to the usually pessimistic Vincent Iriloni who was seated next to him that he was annoyed at the lack of female flight attendants.

The class was happy. It was the last time they were all truly happy.

About three and a half hours into the flight, the students were still happily chatting about what they were going to do in Paris, when suddenly Mr. Hawley noticed something strange: the flight attendants were nowhere to be found. It was not strange that they were out of sight; it was that they had been out of sight for a half hour!

Finn Andrews and Oliver Velize, who were best friends (they had sex together once just because neither wanted to lose it to the wrong person, since they knew they would be friends forever) had spent their time on the flight occasionally talking, but Finn said that she was tired and wanted to try and sleep for a while and Oliver let her sleep. About ten minutes after she fell asleep though, Oliver noticed something strange as well: EVERYONE was falling asleep! Was there a party I missed last night? he thought to himself. Suddenly, he began to feel drowsy as well, and ultimately he slumped over in his aisle seat hanging into the aisle. Immediately before he passed out, he saw one of the flight attendants emerge from the front of the plane, only he was wearing a very strange mask. Was it a gas mask? He did not have much time to think about it though; in fact, he had no time.

Oliver passed out along with forty-one of his classmates and their teacher.

They were on their way to hell.


	3. The Classroom

**BEGIN GAME**

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 4:14 AM

Pauline Thiessen (Girl #10), the chubbiest girl in the group, woke up first. She instantly started looking around, trying to figure out where she was. She saw everyone from her plane lying around on the floor unconscious, and for a moment she thought they were all dead. Fortunately, she was proven wrong when gay classmate Raphael Dwyer (Boy #2) got up.

"Raphael," she said worriedly, "are you all right?"

"Um," he responded, almost in a daze, "I think so-"

"MR. HAWLEY!!!" Stacy Jenkins (Girl #18) screamed as she woke up.

The scream woke up several more classmates, and Pauline and Raphael immediately began looking around, discovering Mr. Hawley tied up in a chair in the corner of the room. Many of the students gasped at the sight.

Mr. Hawley woke up and immediately started squirming around in his seat trying to get loose, but it was hopeless. His hands, feet, and mouth were duct taped tightly. Kurt Falliwell (Boy #9), Alan Edwards (Boy #1), and Zachary Garrett (Boy #19) got up and ran over to try and untie Mr. Hawley when suddenly, the entire back wall of the room opened, and six rows of seven chairs rolled into the room. The students avoided the desks as they rolled in.

As the desks rolled in, Finn Andrews (Girl #6) and Oliver Velize (Boy #6) noticed that they both had the number six written on their hands (Finn's six was red, while Oliver's was blue). They thought that maybe everyone had it written on their hand, but they realized that Isaac Yarberg (Boy #17) had a blue seventeen on his hand. They deduced that blue meant boy and red meant girl, and the fact that they had the same number was just a coincidence.

Suddenly, the large steel door in the room opened, and a familiar man walked in. It was John. Following him was a tall, skinny white man with blonde hair, and following them was a muscular black man with close-cropped hair. John's assistants both carried large assault rifles and wore a black suit and tie.

The class went silent when they all walked in, and after John's black assistant closed the door, John spoke.

"Sit down boys and girls," he said with a placid demeanor.

In less than twenty seconds, all forty-two seats were filled.

"Very good," John said afterward.

"Now," he continued, "I have a confession to make. I lied to all of you. My name is not John. I'm not gonna tell you what my name really is because students don't refer to their administrator by name." From that sentence onward, he was known simply as the Administrator. "Also, another lie: you are not going to Paris. You are going to be a part of our little 'experiment'. A test of human nature. It's a very special program which every one of you should be honored to be a part of."

The students all began looking at each other in shock and confusion.

"I'm sure you've got a lot of questions, like 'Where am I?' or 'What about my family?' or 'What's going on here?' and the like. Well, if you'll all shut up and listen, you'll probably find out. There will be time for questions later."

I thought we were supposed to be on summer vacation, so why are we in school? Kurt thought to himself. He could not believe that in this insanity, THIS was going through his head, but it was.

"Onto those questions: 'Where am I?' You're on a small island in the Atlantic Ocean. You need not know exactly where, but you are two hundred and fifty miles from the nearest civilization. 'What about my family'? Well, they are under the impression that your plane has crashed. Search efforts are underway, and I promise, a survivor will be found."

_A _survivor?!? Alan thought to himself incredulously.

"And now, the biggie: 'What's going on here?' Well, this test is not gonna be pretty, but boy, is it gonna be fun!"

The Administrator snapped his fingers, and his assistants walked out the door and walked back in with a flat with over three dozen duffel bags.

"You will all be called by number, given a bag, and sent out the door. Each bag will contain food, water, a map, a flashlight, a compass, and a random weapon."

At the mention of a "weapon", nearly the entire class gasped in horror.

"In this game, you will be forced to fight to the death for your spot in that missing life raft from your plane."

The class was frozen in shock for a moment, then everyone started to freak out. Some got out of their seats, others screamed obscenities at the Administrator, and when the class got unruly, the Administrator nodded to his assistants, prompting them to fire their assault rifles into the air. The class dove to the floor in terror. Mr. Hawley sat helpless in his chair.

When their magazines were empty, they lowered their rifles, and the Administrator smiled evilly.

"Please return to your seats," he said calmly.

The class sat back down, remaining silent.

"Now," he continued, "I'm gonna run down the rules of this 'game' for you all. First, you may not, under any circumstances, tamper with the collar around your neck."

Collars? No one in the class had noticed! But sure enough, everybody had an identical collar securely fastened around their necks.

"They monitor your heart rate meaning we can tell if you're alive. They also forbid you from going into what we call 'Danger Zones'. Your maps are divided into one hundred grids beginning with a letter A through J and ending with a number 1 through 10. The zone this building is in is D-3, which will be off limits ten minutes after the last of you leaves-"

_**KA-BLAM!!!!!!**_

From the back corner of the room came an ear-splitting explosion.

George Naly (Boy #11) had ignored the Administrator saying the collars must not be tampered with. Upon trying to rip his metal collar off, it detonated, blasting his head into a thousand pieces. Jennifer Springer (Girl #2) and Charlie Davis (Boy #18) sitting to the left of and in front of George respectively, were both briefly deafened by the blast.

"That's what I was talking about," said the Administrator, seemingly annoyed. "That wasn't a 'please-oh-please' don't-take-it-off, it was a 'you'll-die' don't-take-it-off!"

The class looked in horror at George's headless body. Over two dozen students now had to begin the game drenched in his blood.


	4. Departure

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 4:22 AM

"So," the Administrator continued, "anyone else wanna try taking their collars off?"

The class remained frozen in shock.

"Good. Let me continue now. Every six hours, starting at 6 AM, I will make an announcement over the island's P.A. systems announcing the dead and I will also announce new danger zones which will become forbidden every two hours starting at 7 AM. Mark your maps accordingly and pay attention cause I won't repeat myself. Clear?"

A few people nodded their heads while the rest remained frozen.

"Very good then. Now for the last and possibly most important rule: if no one dies within a twelve hour time span, all collars will detonate in a matter much like your friend in the corner-"

"GEORGE!" Phil Raymond (Boy #21) screamed out. "His name was George!" Phil was furious, because George had been his best friend since sixth grade.

"Okay," the Administrator said, almost sounding sympathetic. "George. Did George have a last name?"

"Naly," Phil responded quietly. "His last name was Naly."

"What's your name and number kid?"

"Phil Raymond. Number twenty-one."

"Well Phil, this game is gonna force you to kill people you know. You should be lucky you didn't have to kill your friend. Now sit down and shut up."

Without another word, Phil sat down.

"All right. Now, as a result of George's apparent inability to listen, he's put the kibosh on my little 'experiment'. I was gonna demonstrate the effects of the collars on your beloved Mr. Hawley, but now, that's rather pointless, don't you think?"

Lily Carmody (Girl #12) saw Mr. Hawley's face when the Administrator said that. She would never forget the mix of anger and relief in his eyes.

"Not only that, but now we're a man short. So, Mr. Hawley, I was wondering..."

He walked over to Mr. Hawley, and as he spoke, he used a knife to cut the teacher free.

"Would you like to be a part of the experiment?"

Upon getting the duct tape cut from his mouth, Mr. Hawley responded.

"Go to hell."

"Well, you don't have a choice. You are now George's replacement. What number was George?"

His white assistant jogged to the back of the room and looked at George's hand.

"Number eleven, sir."

"Mr. Hawley," said the Administrator, writing on the teacher's hand with a blue marker, "you are now 'Boy #11'. Congrats."

Mr. Hawley just stood in the corner of the room silently.

"Now, are there any questions?"

Bernie O'Riordan (Boy #16) raised his hand.

"You. Name and number?"

"Bernie O'Riordan. Sixteen."

"All right. What's your question?"

He felt wrong asking it, but he had to know. "What kind of weapons are we gonna get?"

"Great question! Well, it's all a matter of luck really. Some weapons are more powerful than others; they range from machine gun to pencil and combat knife to crossbow, but they can, for the most part, cause harm to someone. There are two items that are not legitimate weapons, but will come in handy nonetheless. In short, no one will be screwed over. Anything else Bernie?"

"No sir."

"Good! Any more?"

Vicky Rivas (Girl #21) raised her hand.

"Young lady in front. Name and number?"

"I'm Vicky Rivas. Number twenty-one."

"Hey Vicky. Question?"

"What if someone walks into a bad zone accidentally?"

The Administrator chuckled. "It'll be the last mistake you'll ever make. Anything else young lady?"

Vicky shook her head.

"All right. Anyone else?"

No one raised their hands.

"Beautiful! Let's get the ball rolling here! I will call you by number and we'll alternate, boy-girl-boy-girl."

Donna King (Girl #7) looked to see Zachary's number. Nineteen. Twenty-two people will leave between them. She could not risk waiting for him outside.

"Let's start with Boy #1. Alan Edwards."

The tall, fit, popular quarterback was used to being "#1". He walked to the front of the room, caught his bag when the Administrator's black assistant threw it to him, and went out the door.

"Girl #1. Cassidy Irving."

The petite, pretty, shoulder-length-haired blonde walked to the front with tears in her eyes, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #2. Raphael Dwyer."

The sole homosexual in their group, who was skinny and had short brown hair walked emotionless to the front, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #2. Jennifer Springer."

The red-haired tomboy who was the star of the school's girl's lacrosse team strolled to the front, scared but calm, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #3. Sam Jenson."

The intelligent, slightly plump bookworm, feeling guilty that his smarts had inadvertently put them in this horrible situation, walked nervously to the front, took his bag, and left.

"Girl #3. Heather Young."

The short, dirty-blonde-haired girl said good-bye to her cousin Andrea Harris (Girl #9), caught her bag, and walked out the door.

"Boy #4. Francis Baker."

Cassidy's boyfriend, who was lean and handsome with dark brown hair, walked quietly to the front, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #4. Tina Chen."

The pretty but slightly nerdy Asian girl did not want to stand up, but the Administrator's white assistant went to her seat and pulled her up. He then pushed her to the front, was given a bag, and sent out the door in tears.

"I give her an hour. Boy #5. Manny Barrett."

One of the three black students in the class, who stood at six feet tall, making him the tallest of the group, calmly went to the front, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #5. Katheryn Orville."

The tall, snooty popular girl with brown hair and the beauty of a model, walked quickly to the front, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #6. Oliver Velize." (He mispronounced the name, saying it as vuh-LIZE instead of vuh-LEEZE.)

The bespectacled, friendly somewhat-loner walked to the front of the class, caught his bag, looked at Finn and nodded slightly, meaning he would wait for her outside, and left.

"Girl #6. Finn Andrews."

Oliver's best friend, who was similar to him in many ways and had short blonde hair, walked to the front, caught her bag, and left, meeting Oliver right outside the door.

"Boy #7. Daniel Masterson."

The creepy, friendless student who had curly blonde hair and stood at just five feet, four inches, making him the second shortest boy in the group after Eric Allen (Boy #12), leaped over an empty desk, ran to the front, caught his bag, and ran out the door eager to begin. Several students were freaked out.

"Now THAT boy wants to be here! Anyways, Girl #7. Donna King."

The black-haired goth looked at her best friend Zachary, possibly for the last time, walked to the front, caught her bag, and left, hoping that that creep Daniel was long gone.

"Boy #8. Jack Underhill."

The muscular, moderately tall football player stood up from his front row seat, caught his bag, and walked stoically out the door.

"Girl #8. Wendy Aurille."

The artsy, dark-haired vegan walked, shaking, to the front of the room, caught her bag, and walked out the door.

"Boy #9. Kurt Falliwell."

The friendly head of the yearbook club with shoulder-length chestnut hair looked at Lily, walked to the front of the class, took his bag, and walked out the door.

"Girl #9. Andrea Harris."

The curly-blonde-haired, bespectacled cousin of Heather walked to the front, caught her bag, walked out the door, and prayed that she would get to see her cousin again.

"Boy #10. Tommy Ellis."

The quiet, slightly overweight, Asperger's-Syndrome-affected boy walked to the front with his head down, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #10. Pauline Thiessen."

The overweight but bubbly youngest girl in the group (second youngest of their entire grade) walked to the front of the class, waved to her classmates (she did not know why she did, she just did), caught her bag, and left.

"Boy, well, kinda, #11. Michael Hawley."

The twenty-four year-old French teacher, who was spared his life due to one of his students' stupidity, angrily got out of his chair in the corner of the room, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #11. Becky Hall."

The top student in one of the two classes that got to go on the trip did not feel the same remorse fellow top student Sam did (not because she did not care, she just did not realize it), who was about as average-looking as possible (medium build, fair height, dark brown hair), walked to the front of the room, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #12. Eric Allen."

The school mascot, who was the shortest boy in the entire grade, standing at just five-foot-one and had puffy brown hair, walked quickly to the front of the room, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #12. Lily Carmody."

The beautiful (but surprisingly unpopular) bright-red-haired drama-club student walked terrified to the front of the class, caught her bag, and walked out the door.

"Boy #13. Henry Shaw."

The skin-headed rumored white supremacist walked to the front of the class with what could almost be considered a smile, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #13. Rachel Ferrer."

The slutty popular girl who was in her own private clique with Katheryn and Michelle Pepper (Girl #19) walked with nearly no emotion on her face to the front of the class, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #14. Vincent Iriloni."

The jet-black-haired boy, the first in the entire grade to grow a beard, walked to the front of the class, nearly tripping over a desk on the way, caught his bag, and walked out the door.

"Girl #14. Elizabeth Chandler."

The wealthy but still kind dark-brown-haired girl walked placidly to the front of the room, caught her bag, and walked out the door.

"Boy #15. Warren Gaston." (He mispronounced this name too, saying gas-TUN instead of gas-TONE.)

The soccer goalie with decent grades and an equally decent appearance stood up from his front row seat, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #15. Nora Lightman."

The younger of the two black girls in the group, who was slightly overweight with long dark hair, stood up from her front row seat, caught her bag, and walked out the door.

"Boy #16. Bernie O'Riordan."

The likable aspiring filmmaker with short, light-brown hair and glasses, walked quietly to the front of the class, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #16. Ursula Murray."

The skinny, older black girl, still haunted by a horrifying tragedy from less than half a year before, stood up with an angry look across her face, stomped to the front of the class, caught her bag, spit on the wall, and left.

"How charming. Boy #17. Isaac Yarberg."

The sole Jewish student in the class, who was highly devout and wore glasses, stood up from his front row seat, caught his bag, and walked out the door.

"Girl #17. Irene Baxter."

The curly-dirty-blonde-haired girl, from an affluent background like her best friend Elizabeth, walked to the front, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #18. Charlie Davis."

The muscular football player, who was rather dumb but was generally a nice guy, walked to the front, caught his bag, and walked out the door.

"Girl #18. Stacy Jenkins."

Standing up from her seat in the other back corner of the room (the corner where there was not a headless football player), the cute, devout Christian girl went to the front of the class, caught her bag, and walked out the door.

"Boy #19. Zachary Garrett."

The tall, short-black-haired goth, who was Donna's lifelong best friend, hoped that he would be able to find her as he walked quickly to the front, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #19. Michelle Pepper."

The sluttiest of the popular clique (she had slept with well over a third of the boys just in their group alone), who had long blonde hair, the longest hair in the entire grade, strolled calmly to the front of the room, blew a kiss to the Administrator's white assistant, caught her bag, and left.

"Lucky bastard. Moving on, Boy #20. Neil Quinley."

The quiet, possibly homicidal introvert stood up from his front row seat nearest the door, caught his bag, and left.

"Girl #20. Quinn Gilroy."

The medium-length-brown-haired friend of wealthy girls Elizabeth and Irene (odd since she's not wealthy herself) walked crying to the front of the room, caught her bag, and left.

"Boy #21. Phil Raymond."

The Canadian-born, burly but good-hearted football player who stood up for his fallen friend George upon his death quickly walked to the front of the room, caught his bag, and walked out of the room.

"And finally, Girl #21. Vicky Rivas."

The sole Hispanic student in the class who stood at five feet and eleven inches tall, making her the tallest of the girls and had shiny dark hair, stood from her seat in the front row seat farthest from the door, caught her bag, and left the school last.

After Vicky left, the Administrator's black assistant sealed the steel door shut.

"Let's begin boys," the Administrator said.

**42 Contestants Remaining**

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know it seems weird putting the teacher in the fray with his students, but when I was writing Mr. Hawley, I found myself not wanting to just mercilessly kill him off. So, I decided to spice things up by including him in the Program.**

**Also, no useless weapons will be featured, as the Administrator said. It just wouldn't be fair! Not everyone will have a gun or knife, but everyone will be able to make their weapon work [in theory, of course].**

**And finally, sorry that I actually went to the trouble of having EVERYONE leave, as opposed to condensing it, but I wanted to just provide a little bit of a description for everyone.)**


	5. THE PROGRAM FACT SHEET

PROGRAM FACT SHEET

CLASS LIST

Number - Name – Description (date of birth, eye color, hair color, height, weight, behavioral traits to likely outcome)

BOYS:

1. Alan Edwards – 10/12/92, brown, light brown, 5'11, 179 lbs, cocky and arrogant but with a definite sense of humanity and loyalty to close knit group of friends

2. Raphael Dwyer – 2/15/93, blue, brown, 5'9, 153 lbs, sole homosexual with possible grudges against homophobic students

3. Sam Jenson – 4/3/93, brown, dirty blonde, 5'8, 182 lbs, intelligent but not dangerously so with a tendency closer towards cowardice than bravery

4. Francis Baker – 12/8/92, hazel, dark brown, 5'9, 166 lbs,passionate love for Girl #1 could lead to early-game suicide

5. Manny Barrett – 3/17/93, brown, dark brown, 6', 178 lbs, strong and imposing presence could give the appearance of an enemy though typically calm nature could really mean otherwise

6. Oliver Velize – 3/31/93, blue (w/ glasses), dirty blonde, 5'8, 169 lbs, close (borderline intimate) relationship with Girl #6 could lead to suicide or fearsome alliance due to cynical nature

7. Daniel Masterson – 5/28/93, blue, blonde, 5'4, 147 lbs, dangerously bizarre nature along with frequent death threats to classmates could lead to a mass killing spree

8. Jack Underhill – 11/11/92, blue, dark brown, 5'10, 189 lbs, generally caring and light-hearted demeanor could prove a liability

9. Kurt Falliwell – 5/8/93, brown, chestnut brown, 5'8, 161 lbs, friendly and noble but impulsive which could lead to an early elimination if in the wrong place at the wrong time

10. Tommy Ellis – 4/12/93, brown, dark brown, 5'9, 186 lbs, mixed bag of outcomes as student's Asperger's Syndrome could lead to a mass killing spree or suicide

11. Michael Hawley* – 6/20/85, brown, auburn brown, 5'11, 175 lbs, deeply caring nature for students leaves odds low

12. Eric Allen – 7/1/93, brown, brown, 5'1, 136 lbs, weak and small figure will most likely result in an early elimination

13. Henry Shaw – 9/14/92, blue, shaved head, 5'10, 173 lbs, history of practice of white supremacy will most likely lead to a mass killing spree

14. Vincent Iriloni – 1/31/93, blue, jet black, 5'7, 160 lbs, history of dramatic confrontations could equal a weak mental state and is likely to snap

15. Warren Gaston – 2/24/93, green, blonde, 5'8, 167 lbs, likely possesses necessary survival skills but easy-going nature likely will not result in a large body count

16. Bernie O'Riordan – 6/5/93, brown (w/ glasses), light brown, 5'8, 170 lbs, smart and calculating nature is a plus but his friendliness is a minus

17. Isaac Yarberg – 10/4/92, brown (w/ glasses), jet black, 5'9, 155 lbs, religious nature could result in refusal to play

18. Charlie Davis – 3/26/93, blue, brown, 5'11, 203 lbs, braun and aggressive nature could potentially lead to a kill or two but fairly dim-witted nature makes winning a longshot

19. Zachary Garrett – 2/19/93, brown, black (dyed), 5'9, 169 lbs, likely to kill in self-defense but not in cold blood

20. Neil Quinley – 10/25/92, blue, blonde, 5'8, 152 lbs, highly introverted nature makes an accurate guess difficult

21. Phil Raymond – 5/15/93, hazel, dark brown, 5'10, 177 lbs, off-putting sense of righteousness could result in an early-to-mid-game elimination

GIRLS:

1. Cassidy Irving – 3/29/93, blue, blonde, 5'5, 118 lbs, passionate love for Boy #1 could lead to early-game suicide

2. Jennifer Springer – 11/7/92, hazel, red, 5'7, 117 lbs, highly athletic nature makes student one of the most likely potential female winners

3. Heather Young – 4/18/93, brown, dirty blonde, 5'3, 104 lbs, too weak to present much of a threat to anyone

4. Tina Chen – 8/9/93, brown, black, 5'4, not strong enough to present a likelihood to win but surprisingly overactive libido could lead to some amusing confrontations

5. Katheryn Orville – 12/25/92, hazel, brown, 5'9, 113 lbs, status of bitch among peers could result in being targeted by other girls

6. Finn Andrews – 6/1/93, blue, blonde, 5'6, 121 lbs, close (borderline intimate) relationship with Boy #6 could lead to suicide or fearsome alliance due to cynical nature

7. Donna King – 4/5/93, brown, black/red (dyed), 5'8, 120 lbs, history of strong emotional outbursts could lead to mental collapse

8. Wendy Aurille – 12/12/92, hazel, dark brown, 5'9, 110 lbs, analytical nature could result in a dark horse outcome

9. Andrea Harris – 1/3/93, blue (w/glasses), blonde, 5'7, 116 lbs, caring and gentle nature makes victory a longshot

10. Pauline Thiessen – 8/24/93, brown, blonde, 5'5, 156 lbs, too out of shape to be much of a contender for victory

11. Becky Hall – 5/14/93, brown, dark brown, 5'7, 127 lbs, intelligent and somewhat remorseless which could lead to one or two kills

12. Lily Carmody – 7/31/93, green, bright red, 5'5, 111 lbs, passionate but too kind to possess much of a threat

13. Rachel Ferrer – 11/29/92, blue, chestnut brown, 5'9, 114 lbs, manipualtive nature could turn out to be a plus making contender status likely

14. Elizabeth Chandler – 3/15/93, brown, dark brown, 5'6, 109 lbs, friendliness likely to result in early-to-mid-game elimination

15. Nora Lightman – 6/14/93, brown, dark brown, 5'7, 139 lbs, marked hostility towards certain classmates may lead to several kills

16. Ursula Murray – 1/22/93, hazel, brown, 5'8, 129 lbs, recent traumatic events could lead to mass killing spree

17. Irene Baxter – 10/28/92, green, dirty blonde, 5'5, 108 lbs, friendly and charismatic personality likely to end with an early elimination

18. Stacy Jenkins – 5/20/93, blue, light brown, 5'4, 106 lbs, devout Christian making likelihood to kill remote

19. Michelle Pepper – 1/7/93, hazel, blonde, 5'10, 121 lbs, tough persona plus incredibly fit body may result in a long stay in the game

20. Quinn Gilroy – 2/2/93, blue, brown, 5'6, 112 lbs, weak physical strength made up for by intelligence making student a mixed bag

21. Vicky Rivas – 10/13/92, brown, dark brown, 5'11, 125 lbs, strength and hostile nature could lead to an impressive run if lack of survival skills are outweighed

*Last-minute replacement for George Naly who was killed before the commencement of the game; is the students' teacher

ISLAND GEOGRAPHY

Size: 41 square miles

Tallest peak: 114 feet above sea level

Number of mountains: 2

Closest landmass: CLASSIFIED

History: Volcanic island (volcano extinct), western side modified as potential fortress during World War II but was never used, has been deserted since the end of WWII

Landmarks: Fortress along western side of island, 114-foot-tall extinct volcano in center of island, 78-foot-tall hill approximately ¾ of a mile south of volcano, customs house along southeast shore, church and library near northeast shore, monastery at northeast base of volcano approximately ¼ of a mile west of church and library


	6. Nightmare

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 4:51 AM

Irene Baxter (Girl #17) knew deep down that what she was doing was stupid, but she had to. She HAD to find her two best friends in the world, Elizabeth Chandler (Girl #14) and Quinn Gilroy (Girl #20), so she was screaming their names at the top of her lungs. She would be an incredibly easy kill for whoever found her first, but the only thing on her mind was finding her friends.

Irene's designated weapon was a steak knife; when she discovered this, she was furious, because she wanted something that would be more effective. Still though, she did not think she had it in her to kill anyone in her class, let alone her friends.

She had been best friends with Elizabeth since they were toddlers. Their parents were best friends, neighbors, and business partners, and they had become parents at roughly the same time; Irene was born in October of 1992 and Elizabeth was born just five months later. With their close parents and similarly affluent backgrounds, the girls had literally grown up together: they played together, they went to school together, they even shared clothes with each other.

Quinn was the odd one out in their group. Her family lived in a small house on the other side of town and was far from wealthy, and she did not even really have much contact with the other two until freshman year. At the time, Quinn was dating one of the school's football players who was trying to pressure her into having sex with him. She insisted she was not ready, but one day in school in the halls (when they were mostly empty), Quinn's boyfriend was so angry at her resistance that he slapped her several times, saying that no one would believe her if she told because no one saw. Fortunately, Elizabeth saw, and she told Quinn that she would turn him in because no one deserves to be treated like he treated Quinn, and he was expelled and arrested. Quinn told Elizabeth that she was forever in her debt, and from that moment on, the two of them were friends, and not long after, Quinn was friends with Irene too.

Irene knew that all three of them would be looking for each other, and she hoped that Elizabeth and Quinn had already found each other, as well as hoping that one of them had a good weapon.

Now though, with her compass with a built-in watch reading almost 6:00 AM, she was hoping she would find SOMEONE. Someone who could help. Someone with a good weapon.

Daniel Masterson (Boy #7) was someone with a good weapon. And that was all.

"Hello Irene," Daniel said sadistically, creeping up behind Irene.

In horror, Irene jumped around to see Daniel pointing an Ingram MAC-10 machine gun at her.

"Wh-wh-what do you want?" Irene said nearly paralyzed with fear, holding her knife out.

"I wanted to tell you," Daniel said eerily, "that you shouldn't be drawing attention to yourself like that. Someone could find you and hurt you."

"A-are you gonna h-hurt me?"

"Me? Why do you think I'd hurt you?"

"Because you're nuts! Plus you have a gun pointed at me!"

Daniel paused, still pointing his machine gun at her. Then he spoke.

"You're right."

Before Irene could put together what Daniel had said to her, he unleashed a volley of bullets directly into her chest. She died within three seconds.

"I don't fucking believe it," said the Administrator's white assistant, "we've already got one dead five minutes in!"

"Who was it?" the Administrator asked.

"Girl #17, Irene Baxter," said the Administrator's black assistant. "She was killed by Boy #7, Daniel Masterson."

"I knew that boy was gonna play!" the Administrator said excitedly. "Gentleman, we have a contender."

"Did you hear that?" Kurt Falliwell (Boy #9) said to Lily Carmody (Girl #12) after hearing what sounded like a power-tool.

"Yeah I did," Lily responded. "How far away do you think it was?"

"Far enough I think, but we have to be careful."

Kurt had hidden outside the school where he could see people leaving. He watched six contestants depart before Lily came out. He was waiting for her, and she coincidentally walked in his direction. He called her name, and she figured he would not hurt her, and she ultimately decided to join him.

Neither had received a great weapon; Kurt received a machete and Lily received hedgeclippers. If someone with a gun showed up, they could be in trouble.

"Hey Kurt," Lily said quietly, "who do you trust?"

"Oh man," Kurt responded, not expecting the question, "I'm not sure. Who do you trust?"

"Well, it's tough to tell. I'll tell you who I don't trust. Daniel. I have a feeling that was him firing that gun earlier."

"Yeah I don't trust him either. Kid's a fucking nut."

"And Neil. He's too creepy."

"All right yeah I'll stay away from him."

Both paused for a second, then Kurt spoke as if he had a divine revelation.

"Zachary and Donna! I trust them."

"Yeah!" Lily responded excitedly. "They wouldn't want to hurt anybody."

"And I trust Alan too," Kurt added. "He may be a jerk sometimes, but he's usually a nice guy. No way he'd buy into this."

"Think he's with the other jocks? Think they would play?"

"Well, there's him, Phil, Jack, and Charlie. No way would Phil play. Not a chance. And Charlie's got a good heart, so I think he'll be cool. And I don't know Jack that well, so I can't say about him."

"What about girls?"

Kurt thought for a moment.

"Rachel and her crew," he said. " I don't trust them. I think they're crazy bitches who may actually enjoy this."

"They might kill each other off," Lily added.

"How about Heather and Andrea?"

"Yeah! They seem too nice to take part in this."

Another pause, then Lily spoke again.

"Francis and Cassidy? They would never kill each other in a million years!"

"True, but would they kill everyone else?"

Both paused again, uneasy.

"I don't think they would," Lily spoke finally. "I don't think so. At least, I hope not."

"So that's a yes on the lovebirds?"

"Yes."

"Okay, so we definitely trust Zachary, Donna, Alan, Phil, Charlie, Heather, Andrea, Francis, and Cassidy, yes?"

"Right."

"And we definitely DON'T trust Daniel, Neil, Rachel, Michelle, and Katheryn. Is that right?"

"Yes it is."

"All right then," Kurt said finally, "we'll look for them."

"Wait, you wanna leave?" Lily asked, surprised.

"If we stay, someone might find us. Someone BAD. If we keep moving we're more likely to find our friends. Okay?"

Lily nodded.

"All right Lily, let's go."

The two walked eastward, where dawn was just beginning to light up the sky.

Zachary Garrett (Boy #19) walked alone through the woods, clutching his designated weapon: a Remington 870 shotgun. When he looked to see what his weapon was, he was grateful. Not that he had a powerful gun, but that someone willing to play did not.

He wanted to find his best friend, Donna King (Girl #7), and keep her safe. He wanted to find her more than anyone, but he still trusted several others, like Kurt and Alan.

Zachary was just wandering through the woods, hoping that he would run into a friend. It was still fairly dark out, and the fact that he was moving westward, away from the rising sun, did not help matters. Still though, he figured that the dark would give him an advantage since he was wearing all black.

Zachary figured wrong.

Without warning, someone burst out of the woods and tried to grab his shotgun. One shot fired off in a deafening blast which was heard all across the island, but it did not deter whoever was trying to grab it. Zachary could not tell who he was fighting, but he could tell that it was a girl who was wearing something over her face. He was not sure, but he thought they were night-vision goggles, which would explain how she ambushed him.

Zachary did not want to hurt whoever was attacking him, but he simply could NOT give up his weapon. He could not. So, even though he hated to do it, he kicked the girl in the gut and ran off. He ran for about two minutes straight until he figured he was safe. Just to be sure, he cocked his gun. Fortunately, he was safe from his attacker. At least for now.

Meanwhile, after taking a moment to get up after being kicked in the chest, Wendy Aurille (Girl #8) continued searching through the woods for Zachary. She was not going to kill him, she just wanted his gun, because her designated night-vision goggles would be useless in just a few hours' time. During the day, she would be an incredibly easy target. She would just have to pray that she survives until night-time to be a contender again unless she finds a gun or knife or something useful.

Wendy was angry that the Administrator had said everyone would get something useful, but not her. She was pretty much screwed until it was night again, and the fact that the game started at nearly dawn was nothing short of cruel to her. Will I live to nightfall? Will I get an actual weapon from someone? Am I gonna die? So many thoughts were racing through her head. She did not think she had a chance.

**Dead:**

**Boys**

**None**

**Girls**

**#17**

**Eliminated:**

**Irene Baxter**

**41 Contestants Remaining**


	7. Joke

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 5:19 AM

Michael Hawley (Boy #11) could not believe this. Was this all an elaborate joke? No, he thought, my students' heads won't get blown off in a joke. As much as he wanted to hope otherwise, he knew that this was for real. Nevertheless, he kept holding on to the hope that someone would save him and his class, as well as hope that those gunshots from earlier did not hurt anyone.

Mr. Hawley had only been a teacher for three years, but he was already one of the most well-liked teachers at the entire school. He was willing to let his first-period students sneak breakfast into his class as it was against school rules to have breakfast after the first bell rang. He also never gave students homework over the weekend or over vacations. He even let students who were done with their work break one of the biggest rules in school: he allowed them to text each other (he would not, however, allow them to text students in other classes as they could be working). In short, Mr. Hawley was too nice. If it were not for his designated Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum Model 686 revolver, he would be an easy out for whoever got close enough. He did not want to kill one of his students, but he figured the gun would scare threatening kids away.

Mr. Hawley was looking for students who refused to play the game and wanted to keep them safe if they did not have a decent weapon. He hoped he would never have to pull the trigger.

…

Tommy Ellis (Boy #10) was a truly unpredictable student. Diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a mild form of autism, in elementary school, he was incredibly withdrawn and introverted. He had several outbursts of rage in fifth grade and has since been incredibly embarrassed about it and refuses to socialize. Despite not having much close contact with anybody, there was one girl he had feelings for, but because of his Asperger's, he was too afraid to tell Becky Hall (Girl #11) that he loved her.

But now, things were different. If it was the last thing Tommy ever did, he would find Becky and tell her. He would do anything to get to her.

Even if that meant taking out his classmates with his designated crossbow.

Asperger's Syndrome is a mental disability that, among other things, can make it harder for people to tell right from wrong. Killing, telling a girl you love her...Tommy saw no difference. He had a game plan. He was gonna take out everybody who stood in his way to Becky.

"Tommy!"

Tommy quickly turned around to see who it was.

It was Vincent Iriloni (Boy #14), carrying a KA-BAR combat knife.

"Hey man I've been looking for someone with a good weapon," Vincent continued, "and you got a good one man!"

Tommy just looked at him blankly.

"C'mon man, let's team up and kill everyone here ourselves huh?"

"You're all in my way," Tommy said stoically.

"What?" Vincent was confused.

Tommy just repeated, "you're all in my way."

And at that, Tommy shot an arrow directly into Vincent's left lung. He fell to the ground gasping and spitting blood, before dying about twenty seconds after the arrow was fired.

Tommy felt pretty much nothing at killing a classmate he has known since kindergarten. He just pulled the arrow out of his chest and put it back in his bag.

Tommy did not bother to take Vincent's knife. He just walked off into the woods.

Wendy, who watched the encounter hidden in the trees, and whose night-vision goggles were now useless as it bright enough outside to see without them, went to Vincent's body and took the knife.

She would have rather had a better weapon, like a gun, but she really just wanted something that she could defend herself with. A combat knife would have to do.

…

Oliver Velize (Boy #6) and Finn Andrews (Girl #6) sat on the eastern shore of the island, watching the sunrise. It was now after 5:30 and the sun was close to breaching the horizon.

Oliver had received a large kitchen knife, and Finn received scissors. Not a great draw either way. Still though, they did not want to kill anybody, but they would if they needed to.

"Hey Finn," Oliver asked.

"What?" Finn responded.

"Do you think there's any hope? Like, any way out of this?"

"I don't know. I'm still hoping this is just some big joke."

"Well, I don't think so at this point. You heard those shots right? Someone is playing! Probably that sick fuck Daniel."

"Or Henry. That kid's a fucking Nazi."

"Yeah, if he gets a good weapon, he's gonna kill all the non-white students AT BEST."

"I think he's gonna kill Ursula and Manny and Nora first, then he's gonna move on to the rest of us."

They both paused. The sun was now visible on the horizon. It was 5:34 AM.

"Oliver," Finn asked.

"What is it?" Oliver responded.

"I just realized, this could be the last sunrise we ever see."

"Well, I just hope I'm at least able to see one more sunset."

…

Eric Allen (Boy #12), the school mascot, was all alone and scared out of his mind. He figured he was as good as dead as he was incredibly weak and was the shortest boy in the school, standing at just an inch over five feet tall.

To make matters worse, he received a stun gun as a weapon. At this point, he wanted someone to just kill him quick and painlessly.

Eric was running through the woods in fear. He was not running anywhere in particular, he was just running. He hoped that he would run into one of his football player friends and that they were not going to shoot to kill if they received guns.

"Eric!"

Eric stopped dead in his tracks and held his stun gun out, zapping it in the direction of the voice.

"What am I, a drunk redneck on 'Cops'?"

Eric looked relieved when he saw who it was: Alan Edwards (Boy #1), the popular school quarterback who was holding a Dragunov sniper rifle. Standing with him was teammate Charlie Davis (Boy #18), holding a switchblade.

"Are you g-guys gonna hurt me?" Eric asked, still slightly nervous.

"Why would we hurt you buddy?" Alan responded in a cheerful manner. "We're gonna bust outta this 'game' and I'm gonna hand the Administrator's head to himself! Are you in little man?"

Eric was ecstatic. "Of course I am!"

"All right man, good to have ya! But before anything else, we gotta find Phil and Jack."

"And maybe a better weapon than this pussy knife," Charlie added.

"That's another thing Eric..." Alan said.

Eric was puzzled.

"If someone tries to hurt us, I'm not gonna hesitate to put him down. Or her."

"Well, probably a him," Charlie said dumbly. (Charlie had a reputation of being fairly stupid.)

"Either way jackass, we will let anyone who hasn't turned into a basket case yet into our group. If they start acting suspicious, we have to act. So Eric, you promise you won't get mad if I have to plug someone?"

Eric hesitated a second before responding.

"If you have to..."

"Alrighty then!"

"But could you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Don't hurt Pauline."

Eric had a crush on Pauline Thiessen (Girl #10), the chubby, outgoing girl in their class.

"Pauline?" Charlie asked in shock. "The fat girl?"

Eric looked annoyed.

"Yeah, but don't say that about her!"

"Dude," Alan said, trying not to laugh, "do you like her?"

"Yeah," Eric said smiling, "I do."

"Cool. Uh, can I ask why?"

"She's...nice. And she's funny and cute and--"

"CUTE?" Charlie asked as he burst into laughter. "Dude, she would crush you if you ever--"

"HEY!" Alan snapped back. "Love is blind. Our little buddy's in love. We should respect that. Besides, I doubt she'd buy into this. She IS nice. So y'know what buddy? We'll let her join us if we find her."

"WHEN we find her!" Eric snapped back.

"Well dude she might--"

"Shut up Charlie. We WILL find her."

Finally, Charlie got it, and nodded.

**Dead:**

**Boys**

**#14**

**Girls**

**#17**

**Eliminated**

**Vincent Iriloni**

**40 Contestants Remaining**


	8. Tragedy

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 5:45 AM

Ursula Murray (Girl #16) had spent the last several months recovering from the horrifying memory of her stepfather stabbing her mother to death in a drunken rage, and her trip to Paris was her way of trying to move on from the traumatic experience. Unfortunately, this was the last thing she wanted: to be thrust into a life-or-death game of survival. She was now wondering if she was even allowed to be happy anymore.

Ursula's designated weapon was a sleek Beretta M9, which she did not want to use. But, did she have any choice? As she walked through a large fortress on the western part of the island near a large look-out tower, she got her answer.

No.

Warren Gaston (Boy #15), a formerly easy-going boy with blonde hair and green eyes (Ursula herself found him to be fairly handsome), suddenly opened fire on Ursula from the tower with his designated Walther PPK. Fortunately, Warren was a terrible shot, and he was far away (the tower was about thirty feet high), so Ursula was able to take cover. Every few seconds she would get an opening and fire back, but because of Warren's distance, she missed.

Ursula wondered if she had any hope of surviving this.

…

Jack Underhill (Boy #8) and Phil Raymond (Boy #21) had managed to find each other fairly early in the game, and had spent the game so far trying to find their teammates, Alan Edwards and Charlie Davis, and if possible, the team mascot Eric Allen. They were hoping that the team together could find a way off the island. But, so far, things seemed hopeless. Jack and Phil had found the body of Irene Baxter, and Phil, arguably the smartest player on the football team, guessed that she was killed by a machine gun due to over a dozen bullet holes and hearing something like a machine gun earlier.

Jack had received a SIG Sauer P226 pistol as a weapon, while Phil received an aluminum baseball bat. They were glad that they had at least one gun, but they hoped that Alan or Charlie had another. The more, the merrier.

"So Phil," Jack asked, "have you thought of any way off this rock yet?"

"Not yet," Phil responded, "but don't hold your breath. This whole thing is pretty airtight. I don't think there's any way outta these collars." As Phil said this, he looked at Charlie's collar. He noticed a small hole on the top of the collar. He looked closer and tried to figure out what it was.

A microphone! The Administrator and his assistants were listening! It made perfect sense; they could not be watching since there were no cameras anywhere (Phil had looked, but he figured that at best they were watching via satellite), so they had to be monitoring the students _somehow_.

Phil then felt his own collar in the same area, and felt a similar hole.

"What are you doing man?" Jack asked, confused.

Phil put his finger over his hole, and motioned to Jack to do the same.

"They're listening," Phil said quietly, "so be careful what you say!"

Jack nodded, impressed that Phil was able to figure it out.

Phil then took his hand off his collar. "We gotta find them soon."

"You're right man," Jack responded, "let's keep moving."

That was when they heard that cocky but cool voice.

"You lookin for me?" Alan said sarcastically.

Jack and Phil quickly jumped around and were relieved to see Alan holding a sniper rifle. Eric and Charlie were standing beside him.

"Y'know," Eric said, "I had that exact reaction."

All five boys laughed, excited to be reunited.

However, that joy quickly went away when gunfire erupted nearby. Alan and Jack clutched their guns tightly.

"Follow me," Alan said in a very serious tone.

Alan moved forward, holding his Dragunov sniper rifle. Jack stood beside him with his SIG Sauer P226 ready to go, and the rest followed closely behind. Charlie and Phil kept their cool fairly well, while Eric nearly peed his pants in fear.

The group emerged from the woods and found themselves at an old and abandoned fortress. They could tell that there was a gunfight underway inside.

Alan saw a large tower that appeared to have someone inside. He could not tell exactly who it was, but he was fairly sure it was a boy. He looked through the scope of his rifle and figured out who it was.

"It's the soccer goalie. What's his name?"

"Warren?" Jack responded. "_He's _shooting at someone?" Jack was surprised, since Warren was a fairly nice kid.

"Yeah. I guess this whole thing just got to him."

"Or maybe," Phil jumped in, "he's defending himself."

"Maybe," Jack said.

"Well, who's he shootin at?" Charlie asked.

"I don't know," Alan said, "but I'm gonna find out."

At that point, Alan climbed up onto a wall and started crawling, hoping not to be seen by either shooter. When he got to what he guessed was a safe point, he looked for the other shooter. As the others made their way over quickly but quietly, he found the other shooter.

"Ursula Murray," he said, "the black girl whose mom got killed a while back."

"Shoot her!" Charlie said angrily.

"What?" Phil said in shock. He knew Charlie was kinda dim, but he never thought he would say something so mean.

"She's nuts! That girl is crazy enough to start killing people. Alan, put her down!"

"I'm not gonna shoot either of them!" Alan said sternly. "At least until we try to get them to join us."

"That's a good idea," Eric said. "They might just be scared is all."

"All right I got a plan," Jack said. "I'm gonna go out there and try to get them to join us, but shoot them if they try anything! Charlie, since you wanna shoot Ursula so badly, you take my gun and if she tries anything, shoot her. Can you really do that?"

"Yeah man," Charlie responded.

"And Alan," Jack continued, "you do the same, but on Warren. He does anything, shoot him!"

"Do we have to kill them?" Eric said nervously, not wanting them to die.

"It's the best we got," Phil responded. "Besides, I think you're right. They're just scared. All we're gonna do is put some sense back into them."

Eric nodded.

"All right," Jack said, taking a deep breath. "Let's do this."

At that point, Jack climbed over their cover, jumped off the wall, and landed feet first on the ground ten feet below. The landing stung his foot a little, but it was ultimately no big deal.

"He's got balls," Alan said quietly.

"Stop shooting!" Jack yelled out. "We know you're scared. It's okay, we are too! I've got my friends together and we're gonna try and figure a way out. We want as many people with us as possible. You can both join us! You'll be safe. It's me, Alan, Phil, Charlie, and Eric. You both have guns, and we need more! We're building an army, and an army with no guns is nothing. Whataya say? Are you both in?"

"Y'know," Phil said quietly, "he'd make a good salesman someday."

Ursula had just been staring at Jack the whole time. She was intrigued; _was _there actually hope after all?

However, when she stepped out of cover to walk over towards Jack, a bullet fired by Warren suddenly flew by her face, hit a nearby wall, and sent pieces of debris into her eye. Jack quickly stepped back as Ursula ran away, screaming obscenities at Warren. Jack tried to call her back to him, but she disappeared.

At that point, Warren turned his attention to Jack. He opened fire, but thankfully, he once again missed due to his poor aim.

Charlie shot back at the tower and wondered why Alan had not taken the shot. "What the fuck man? Shoot him!"

"I'm aiming," Alan said. "I don't wanna miss."

"Well can't you-"

"Shut the hell up Charlie!" Phil snapped as he slapped Charlie in the shoulder. "Let him concentrate."

A new gunshot rang out. It was Alan. The bullet hit its target and knocked warren off his feet. He fell to the floor of his perch, writhed around for a moment, and finally stopped moving.

"You're safe Jack," Alan said, slightly shaken from shooting a classmate.

"Thanks man," Jack said. "I tried. I wish she would have stayed. I think she was good."

"No way dude," Charlie butt in, "she probably woulda shot ya if Warren didn't first."

"Dude," Phil said, "just because a lotta bad shit has happened to her lately doesn't mean she's a killer. So please stop assuming that or I'll kick your ass. Got it?"

Charlie nodded, giving Jack his gun back after the latter returned to the group.

"Hey," Charlie said, "let's go get his gun! I need one y'know."

Before Eric or Phil could say that they also needed guns, Charlie jumped over the wall and ran towards the tower. Alan jumped down behind him, knowing that Charlie was not going to grab Warren's rations. The rest of the guys followed after.

Charlie ran to the tower and found a ladder on the back, and quickly started climbing. Alan followed while Phil, Jack, and Eric waited on the ground.

"Hey Charlie," Alan called up.

"Yeah?" Charlie responded.

"Think you could grab Warren's bag? We could use his food and water and all that."

"Yeah yeah yeah sure whatever."

Charlie reached the top of the tower, when suddenly, three shots rang out. All three passed through Charlie's chest, causing him to fall from the tower. If Phil and Jack had not broken his fall, he would have died on impact. Alan quickly climbed to the top of the tower. Warren was still alive! Alan was furious, not only at Warren for shooting one of his best friends, but also at himself, for not successfully killing Warren.

The reason that the handsome soccer goalie had only fired three shots was simple; only three shots remained in the gun. The even-more-handsome quarterback reached the top of the tower as Warren reloaded and, without hesitation or mercy, Alan aimed directly at Warren's heart and fired. Warren died almost instantly. Alan did not bother to get Warren's gun; instead, he slid down the ladder to Charlie. He was surprised that Charlie had survived both being shot and a three story fall.

"A-A-A-Alan?" Charlie said, spewing blood from his mouth.

"What is it buddy?" Alan said, trying to hold back his tears.

"I-Is he d-d-dead?"

"Yeah. I got him this time."

Alan paused.

"It's my fault man," Alan continued, starting to cry. "If I got him the first time you wouldn't have been shot! I'm so sorry buddy!" Eric, Phil, and Jack were crying too now.

"It's n-n-not your f-fault d-dude. I-I sh-shoulda b-b-been more c-careful."

Charlie paused.

"Y-Y-You g-got him," Charlie continued. "W-we're-c-c-cool."

Alan was surprised. "You forgive me?"

Charlie nodded, and then died. All four boys hugged Charlie's corpse, crying.

…

"Good morning boys and girls!" The Administrator's sickly cheerful voice announced over the island's nearly three dozen P.A. Systems. "You've only been at it for about an hour and a half, but we've already got four fatalities! Keep up this pace, you'll be down to half by noontime!"

"Sick bastard," Kurt said to himself, disgusted. Lily nodded.

"Here is the list of your dead classmates, in the order they died. First, we had our only girl so far: Girl #17, Irene Baxter."

Elizabeth Chandler (Girl #14) and Quinn Gilroy (Girl #20), Irene's best friends were devastated at the news that they never got to see their friend, and Elizabeth started to cry.

"After that, we had Boy #14, Vincent Iriloni. And, just in the last few minutes, we lost Boy #15 Warren Gaston and Boy #18 Charlie Davis. That leaves thirty-eight eligible contestants left."

No one cared much about the deaths of Vincent and Warren, as most of both students' friends were in other classes, but Charlie's death was surprising to many, as he was a strong and bulky football player. How was he taken down?

"Now students, this next part is important. I'll wait a few seconds for you to get out your maps and pens so you can write down the first set of danger zones."

Pause.

"Everyone ready? Hope so, because I'm not repeating these. At 7:00, we have A-5."

A-5 was mostly ocean, but the northernmost point of the island was within the zone as well.

"Then at 9:00, we have E-3."

E-3 was the zone directly south of the school's zone.

"And, at 11:00, we have h-6."

H-6 was mostly the southern slope of the smaller of the two hills on the island.

"Good luck to all of you. You are off to a great start. I've noticed there are quite a few alliances that have formed already. That's good, because it always amuses me when the groups fall apart. Have a nice day!"

The P.A. system clicked off.

Zachary was somewhat relieved that the three people he was searching for, Donna, Kurt, and Alan, were alive at the moment (unless one just got killed in the last ten seconds). He was sad for the loss of Irene, Vincent, Warren, and Charlie, but he figured it was best to try and move on.

However, one thing from the Administrator's announcement was bugging him. He said that it always amuses him when alliances fall apart.

_Always?_

How many times has he forced people to play this horrible game? Was it always kids? How did he get away with it?

Zachary figured he was most likely never going to get any answers, so he just shook the thought away. Clutching his Remington 870, which he considered a "don't fuck with me" weapon, he continued moving through the woods, hoping that the next person he ran into was, at the very least, not going to try to take his gun from him.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18**

**Girls**

**#17**

**Eliminated**

**Warren Gaston**

**Charlie Davis**

**38 Contestants Remaining**


	9. Desperate Times

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 6:09 AM

Oliver and Finn were making their way through the woods. Neither one had a great weapon (Oliver had a kitchen knife and Finn had scissors), so they were being especially careful as they made their way westward. After over five minutes of silence, Finn decided to say something. Something she and Oliver had done in the past.

"Hey Oliver," Finn asked quietly.

"What?" Oliver responded.

"Do you remember last month? You and me...together?"

"Yeah I remember. Why are you bringing it up now?"

"I'm just...nervous. That we won't make it and I'll die without telling you-"

She caught herself too late. Oliver had already figured out what she was going to say.

"Go on," Oliver said, looking at Finn almost expressionless (he had no idea how he should feel).

"Oliver," Finn said slowly, "I love you."

She grabbed Oliver and kissed him. Oliver grabbed her, and Finn thought he was going to push her away, but he instead held her close and made the kiss last longer.

"I love you too Finn," Oliver said, choking up. "That night where you and me had sex was absolutely beautiful."

Finn was crying now. "Why is this happening to us?"

"I don't know."

Suddenly, Finn noticed Oliver staring behind her in horror. She turned around slowly to see who (what?) it was.

It was Neil Quinley (Boy #20), holding a S&W M29 revolver. Oliver, being a Clint Eastwood fan, recognized the gun immediately as the gun used by Dirty Harry.

Oliver and Finn both put their hands up, praying that Neil would not shoot them. However, while Finn remained hopeful, Oliver was terrified, as Neil was known for being incredibly withdrawn and he had often heard people joke about Neil going on a killing spree.

"Please," Finn said, "don't kill us. We don't wanna play."

Neil, in a previously rare occurrence, spoke. "What are your weapons?"

"I got a knife," Oliver said, "and Finn has scissors."

"Let me see them," Neil asked stoically.

They both pulled out their weapons quickly and dropped them on the ground.

"Are you gonna kill us?" Oliver asked.

"Not unless I have to," Neil said. He pointed the gun directly at Oliver's face. "Do I have to?"

"No," Oliver and Finn said at the same time.

Then, Neil turned around, and disappeared into the trees.

Finn started crying, and Oliver held her close. They were both tremendously relieved that they survived an encounter with a supposed psychopath.

…

Elizabeth and Quinn had made camp in a small bog close to the school, but not within the danger zone. Elizabeth had received a handsaw as a weapon, while Quinn had not received an actual "weapon" per se; she received a tracking device that monitored the locations of all of the students on the island. The only time anyone had come close to their location was when Jack and Phil walked by about forty-five minutes earlier.

Because Elizabeth's weapon was fairly useless unless someone got real close, on top of the fact that she was incredibly distraught over the death of her lifelong friend Irene, Quinn kept an eye out for fellow students.

"Why'd she have to die?" Elizabeth asked, still crying.

"Why do ANY of us have to die?" Quinn responded. "Irene didn't deserve to die. Neither did George, Vincent, Warren, or Charlie. This whole situation is unfair."

Elizabeth continued crying. She was kind of hoping that Quinn would help.

"Sorry Elizabeth. I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay."

"I'm just...pissed that that Administrator douchebag is allowed to do this horrible game! What did we ever do to him?"

"I want you to kill me."

Quinn was completely thrown off guard. Did her best friend actually just ask her to kill her? The sentence was just slipped into the conversation like it was nothing.

"Wh-what did you say?"

"I've wanted to just slash my jugular open with this saw and get out of here. I know I couldn't possibly kill anybody else even if my life depended on it. And now my life DOES depend on it."

Quinn was completely frozen in shock at what she was saying.

"But," Elizabeth continued, "I don't have the guts to kill myself either. And I don't want someone else to kill me. So I want it to be you."

She threw her handsaw to Quinn, closed her eyes, and continued.

"Please Quinn, kill me."

"I can't either, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth opened her eyes. "Why?"

"I can't kill anyone either. At least not like this."

Elizabeth nodded, understanding that Quinn could not do it.

"I'll tell you this much though..." Quinn continued.

"What?"

"If someone tries to hurt us, I'll take 'em out. You won't have to."

"Thanks Quinn."

Quinn looked back at the tracking device and saw a blue dot among the two red dots that were there before.

Someone was coming.

"Elizabeth hide!" Quinn said quickly and quietly.

The girls hid behind a tree and looked around for the intruder.

Quinn checked the device again, and sure enough the blue dot was approaching. Quinn guessed that red dots, like the two that represented Quinn and Elizabeth, meant girls, and the blue dots were boys.

As Quinn picked up the handsaw, the intruder revealed his face, confirming Quinn's theory. It was a boy.

That boy was Manny Barrett (Boy #5), the only black boy on the island. He held a S&W M19 revolver. As a result, the girls stayed hidden. They were not sure that he would shoot on sight, but they did not want to risk it.

Manny passed through the bog and kept on moving. He had not seen the girls, or at least if he did, he ignored them. Quinn and Elizabeth were relieved.

"Okay that was way too close," Quinn said. "We should move somewhere else.

"Like where?" Elizabeth asked.

"There's a church in the northeast part of the island. I saw it earlier. It's pretty tall and it has a belfry where we-"

"Wait," Elizabeth interrupted. "Sorry to sound like a total bimbo, but what's a belfry?"

Quinn chuckled. "It's where they keep the bells at the church. Usually the top."

"Is it on top of this church?"

"Yeah, and we'd probably be safe up there for a while. At least until they make it a danger zone."

"All right, I'll go there with you."

"Okay then. Let's get going."

The girls then took off, headed for what they thought was a safe place.

…

Michelle Pepper (Girl #19), the class whore, made her way through the woods, holding on to her designated weapon: a scythe. She found it to be a strange weapon, but she figured that it was lethal enough. She was searching for her two best friends, Rachel Ferrer (Girl #13) and Katheryn Orville (Girl #5).

Michelle may have been one of the most beautiful girls in the entire school, but she was also one of the meanest. Not as mean as Rachel, but it was a close race. She was a thoroughly disgusting human being just as much as Rachel. Their gang would spend so much time spreading nasty rumors about other students that they could be considered evil.

The worst moment of Michelle being Michelle was when she spread a rumor that Ursula had killed her mother and set her stepfather up to have did it. However, when word of this got to Ursula, she did almost exactly what she falsely accused Ursula of: Ursula threatened her in the hall and she said that Rachel had spread the rumor, resulting in Ursula punching Rachel and getting herself suspended for an entire week. The worst part was that Michelle did not even realize that she was doing the exact same thing.

In addition to being a cold heartless bitch, she was a slut through and through. She lost her virginity at age eleven, and had recently slept with half of the football team in one week. She was impregnated by a fellow classmate who was lucky enough to have not come on the trip, but she got an abortion and thought nothing of it. She never told him.

Michelle wanted to find Rachel and Katheryn soon. She had it all planned out: she would pretend that she had a way out to get her friends on her side, and if one had a gun, she would take the gun and shoot them both quick and painlessly. If not, then she would slash both of their throats open with her scythe. It was a foolproof plan.

Finally, after nearly two hours of searching, she had found one of her best friends, Rachel. She was holding a Browning Hi-Power pistol.

Like shooting fish in a barrel, Michelle thought.

"Hey girl!" Michelle said happily.

"Oh thank God Michelle!" Rachel said with joy. "I thought I'd never find you!"

"We just need to find Katheryn and we're good to go. I know a way out! I'll explain later but we gotta find Katheryn now."

"What are you talking about? There's no way out."

"Yeah there is! I swear."

"Well yeah there is one. To win."

"Listen Rachel, I know-"

"Wanna know something else?" Rachel interrupted.

Michelle was puzzled. "What?"

"This was Katheryn's gun. I got a rope."

Michelle was really confused now. Then she noticed something on a nearby tree.

A rope was tied around it.

She walked around the tree and realized that Rachel had had her own plan too.

Katheryn was hanging from the tree by her neck. She was dead.

Michelle was absolutely shocked. Too shocked to realize the rest of Rachel's plan. As she turned to look at Rachel, she figured it out at the very last second that Rachel had the whole thing planned out.

"I'm getting off this island without you," Rachel said sadistically.

Michelle was going to say something, but she never got the chance, as Rachel fired a single shot directly into her left eye which went through her brain and out the back of her head.

The once beautiful slut now lay dead looking like someone had fired a paintball directly into her face.

Rachel found Michelle's scythe and, as an act of true sadism, stuck it directly into Michelle's heart.

"Goodbye Michelle."

And with that, Rachel disappeared into the woods.

…

Manny had made his way from the bog where he nearly discovered Elizabeth and Quinn, but fortunately avoided confrontation, to the fortress on the westernmost point of the island. He figured he would be safe enough in the large lookout tower, but when he got there, he discovered Charlie's body with three bullet wounds across his upper chest. He was most surprised at Charlie's death from the announcement, since Charlie was a tough guy. But, then again, anyone could be tough behind a gun.

Manny climbed the tower and when he got to the top, he was shocked to discover yet another body, this time being Warren's. He had a large wound in his chest, and another in his shoulder. Manny realized that his bag was missing, meaning that whoever killed him was smart enough to take all of his food and his weapon. He wondered if he and Charlie could have possibly killed each other.

Manny simply could not hide out next to a dead body, no matter how desperate the situation was, and he climbed down from the tower. When he turned the corner, he suddenly found himself face-to-face with a Beretta 92FS, held by Bernie O'Riordan (Boy #16). Instinctively, Manny pointed his gun at Bernie's head.

"I don't wanna shoot you man," Manny said calmly. "Don't make me."

"I don't wanna shoot you either Manny," Bernie said calmly. "I've got no problem with you."

"You don't know me much though dude."

"That's my point."

Both boys paused, still not totally trusting each other.

"Hey," Bernie responded, "is that a Smith & Wesson M19?"

Manny was surprised. "Yeah, that's what the manual for it said. How'd you know?"

"Well I'm not the best with guns, but I know a few, like that one. I'm a film buff, and your gun is the signature gun of Murtaugh in the Lethal Weapon movies. And I have the signature sidearm of his partner Riggs, a Beretta 92FS. What are the odds, huh?"

What are the odds of you getting laid? Manny thought to himself.

"Wow...I'm impressed. How do you remember all this stuff?"

"It can pay to be a nerd sometimes."

"You wanna be a movie maker right?"

"That's right."

"Then it just might pay."

The boys laughed for a moment, but kept their guns up.

"Hey man," Manny said.

"What?" Bernie responded.

"Can we lower our guns?"

"Sure. I trust you man."

At that moment, Bernie lowered his gun, and Manny lowered his.

"I don't know how," Bernie said suddenly, "but I'm escaping this god-forsaken island. Are you in Manny?"

Manny paused for a moment. He thought that Bernie was nuts for actually thinking there was an escape, but he also did not want to be alone.

After thinking it through, Manny made up his mind.

"Yeah. I'm in."

"Riggs and Murtaugh for the win!" Bernie said excitedly.

Manny laughed, and then the new unlikely partners looked around for a new hiding place.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19**

**Eliminated**

**Katheryn Orville**

**Michelle Pepper**

**36 Contestants Remaining**


	10. Wants And Needs

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 6:43 AM

The three football players and their mascot, respectively Alan, Jack, Phil, and Eric, continued making their way through the woods, looking for materials they could use to escape the island. All four boys knew that only Phil had any chance whatsoever of thinking of a way out.

Sadly, the odds of there actually being one were about a million to one, all four boys figured.

After mourning Charlie, Phil had climbed back up the tower and taken Warren's Walther PPK. Now Eric was the only one without a gun. But he did not care, as he figured the other guys could handle one better.

"So what did you have in mind Phil?" Eric asked, looking for an excuse to break the silence.

"What?" Phil responded.

"To get out of here."

"I don't have one, escape is impossible." As he said this, he motioned to his collar and put his finger over the microphone. He then mouthed the word "microphone" to Eric.

Eric felt his collar and covered the hole with his finger. Alan and Jack did the same.

With their collars covered, Phil spoke again.

"If, and this is a big fucking IF, we can get our hands on a grenade, we can lob it at the school."

"Do you think they would be that stupid?" Alan jumped in. "They have THREE STAR FOOTBALL PLAYERS here! Any of us could make the throw! We've all made forty-yard touchdown passes in the past, so hard could this be?"

"I'm with Alan dude," Jack added. "They probably didn't give anyone here a grenade, so if they didn't? Then what?"

Phil paused. Then he said what the guys did not want to hear.

"Then we're fucked."

Alan, Jack, and Eric were all disappointed, and now felt hopeless. They all then took their hands off their collar mics. As Alan and Eric walked ahead, Jack covered his mic, motioned to Phil to do the same, and spoke quietly.

"Don't give up dude."

"I'm not."

Jack nodded. Both boys took their hands off their collars and caught up with Alan and Eric.

…

Donna King (Girl #7) clutched her weapon, a common household hammer, tightly. She was hoping that Zachary had a gun, and if he did, he had not lost his mind and was killing everyone on the island.

Was this really happening? Was she ACTUALLY in this situation? She had kept her hopes up as best she could, until she discovered the body of Irene Baxter, and while she hoped it was a sick joke despite being covered in bullet holes and blood (she had seen a lot of horror movies that had dead bodies that looked like Irene) but after spending a minute trying to find her pulse, she realized it was not a joke. Irene really was dead.

While she was by no means happy to find Irene's body, Donna was somewhat grateful that it was not Zachary or one of her other friends, like Lily.

Donna had been wondering if Zachary had joined forces with someone, or even if it was a good idea to. Should she join forces with someone? Donna hated having to even THINK about something like this.

Fortunately, she did not have to think about it long.

"Don't fucking move!" a voice called out from behind.

Donna froze, and put her hands in the air.

"Drop the bag bitch!"

She dropped the bag, realizing that whoever was behind her was not someone to join forces with.

"Turn around!"

She turned around, and was surprised at who she saw.

Isaac Yarberg (Boy #17)? The nice, smart Jewish kid? The game had gotten to him, and given him a S&W snub-nose .38 Chief's Special.

"Show me your weapon Donna!"

Donna reached into her waistband and pulled her hammer out. She then dropped it on the ground.

"Wow, you got screwed huh?"

Donna grimaced at him.

"Speaking of which..."

Donna's heart skipped a beat. She knew what Isaac had in mind.

"I'm giving you a choice Donna. You can either take off your clothes right now, and let me have you, or I can kill you and fuck your corpse. What's it gonna be?"

Donna was absolutely disgusted. I'm about to lose my virginity to this psycho? she thought to herself. She was begging for Zachary to show up now.

While she pondered, she did not notice Isaac get close enough to her to put his gun directly in her face.

"What will it be? C'mon, you really wanna let me die a virgin? That's not fair!"

"I'm a virgin too. But I'd rather die than lose it to you, you fucking creep!"

"Did you forget bitch? I'M HOLDING THE GODDAMN GUN!" He then smashed his gun into her face, giving her a bloody nose, and when she fell to the ground, he kicked her repeatedly.

After ten seconds of being viciously beaten, Isaac stopped, and then he spoke again.

"Last time Donna. I'll let you live if you let me have you. I'll even give you my gun."

Donna looked at him in shock. "Are you serious? You're trading your own safety just to get laid? You ARE nuts!"

"I promise Donna. I'll let you go. With a better weapon."

Donna stood up, still in disbelief at what Isaac was saying.

Suddenly, the Isaac from two minutes ago came back.

"Look Donna, I'm fucking you dead or alive, so how bout you pick one before I pick for you?"

Donna realized that she had no chance of survival if she said no, but had a small chance of survival if she said yes. And she wanted to survive.

"Okay..." Donna whispered.

Isaac was somewhat shocked that she was actually going for this, but she was. And now, Donna was starting to take off her clothes.

In a matter of seconds, Donna stood naked in front of Isaac.

"Wow. You really are...beautiful."

Donna now wondered if Isaac was bipolar by the way he switched between moods so quickly.

"Come here. Let's do this."

Donna put her clothes on her duffel bag, and she walked over to Isaac, who was now unzipping his pants. Then, he took 'it' out.

"You know how this works, right Donna?"

Donna had always found the thought of a blow job disgusting, but now she had to...on Isaac?...Wait...

Isaac saw what almost looked like a smirk on Donna's face as she started to do what he said.

Isaac was enjoying it for the first five seconds or so. Until he figured out why Donna smirked before. It was a smirk of inspiration. She had figured out how to get away from him and it involved something she had seen once in an old Italian horror film: she bit it. Not off, but enough to hurt.

Isaac screamed in pain as Donna pushed herself away, knocked the gun out of his hand, ran off and grabbed her bag and clothes and ran into the woods. She made it to the trees right as Isaac grabbed his gun and fired a shot in her direction, but missed. Holding his groin in pain, he chased after her.

Donna continued to run, until finally she found a hiding place among fallen tree logs. She peeked up and saw Isaac run past the area, never noticing her. As she put her clothes back on, she could not help but laugh at the last few hours. She recapped in her head: she was lied to about a trip to Paris, kidnapped, told to kill her friends, found a dead classmate, gave Isaac Yarberg a blow job and then nearly castrated him, and was forced to streak completely naked through the woods.

"Zachary," she said aloud, "wait 'til you hear about my day."

…

"Donna! Donna!" Isaac was furious that Donna had tricked him, and now he was going to make her pay.

"You're dead bitch! You hear me? YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!"

Isaac ran as fast as he could, but his groin was still in extreme pain.

"Nearly bit my dick off! You BITCH!"

"That sucks dude," a voice suddenly said from behind.

Isaac turned around and saw Henry Shaw (Boy #13), the long-rumored white supremacist. Isaac, being Jewish, was afraid of him. As Henry ran at him, Isaac fired a shot at him, and hit him directly in the chest. However, he briefly grunted, but that was all.

The bullet did not affect him.

Before Isaac could fire another shot, Henry tackled him to the ground, knocked the gun away, and started to strangle him with his bare hands.

"You know," Henry said as he slowly killed him, "all those rumors of me being a white supremacist haven't escaped my ear."

He paused.

"And I know that they're true. But here, I don't think it matters much huh? Only one can live, white, black, Jew, Asian, Latina, whatever. Best make sure one of you 'people' if you can even call yourselves that, don't win. I made it my mission to kill you, Manny, Ursula, Nora, Tina, and Vicky. After that, I'll get everyone else for my own survival. But hey, it ain't like it matters to you huh?"

By now, Isaac was dead.

Henry picked up Isaac's gun, and searched his bag for more ammo.

"See ya in hell kike." Henry laughed, and walked off.

…

_Friday, April 9, 2010. Local time: 6:46 PM_

_Mr. Hawley stood up in front of his class at the West Hanover Pizzeria, or Westie's for short, where they were celebrating being the winners of the nationwide contest for an all-expense-paid trip to Paris in the summer._

"_Boys and girls," he said in his theatrical voice, "luck gave me the win, but you all earned your way onto the trip, so you should all give yourselves a round of applause!"_

_All forty students who showed up (minus Ursula and Neil) cheered and applauded loudly. The pizzeria was closed for the celebration and they had the whole place to themselves. The school paid for the party, and they basically could order anything for free. All the students shared pizza and drank soda and had fun being with their friends._

_Kurt sat at a table with Zachary, Donna, Bernie, and because she had nowhere else to sit, Lily. Kurt sat next to Lily and started to make casual chit-chat with her._

"_So Lily," Kurt said, "how's drama club?"_

"_Meh, it has its ups and downs," Lily responded. "It's fun to be on stage, performing for everyone, but sometimes the pressure is pretty big."_

"_How?"_

"_Well, I want to be a professional actress in movies, but my parents don't want me to go to California. We fight about it a lot. And it's tough to deal with."_

"_I've wanted to go to California too," Bernie jumped in from across the table. "Everyone knows I wanna be a director."_

"_Yeah we all know Bernie," Kurt said sardonically, "you remind us all the time!"_

_Lily laughed._

"_Yeah well I've thought of going to film school out there. I've been looking into it since freshman year. So maybe you and I could head out there together Lily?"_

_Lily was surprised at how upfront Bernie was about it. "Oh wow I don't know..."_

"_Just think about is all I'm saying. How bout you Kurt?"_

"_What?"_

"_Any cinematic interests at all?"_

_Kurt thought for a moment. "I like writing I guess..."_

"_Cool! We got a writer, a director, and an actress! We'd be quite a force out there don't ya think?"_

"_Dude where the hell is this coming from?" Kurt jumped in. "One minute we're talking, then you jump in with 'let's all go to California!' I'm confused dude!"_

_Bernie chuckled._

"_Sorry man," he said, "I just...I don't know. I wanna be a director, but I'm honestly a little worried about being all alone. I want a few friends with me I guess. I don't know why."_

_Lily was actually interested in the idea. "I'll think about it."_

_Kurt was surprised._

"_Awesome! How bout you Kurt?"_

"_I don't know...I'll think about it too I guess."_

…

"Hey Lily," Kurt said.

"Yeah?" Lily responded.

"Remember a few months ago at Westie's when Bernie invited us to California with him?"

"Yes. I do."

"We both said we'd think about it. Well, I thought about it, and I think I want to."

Lily was surprised. "Really? I thought you were just being nice."

"Well I was at the time, but I started thinking and I tried my hand at writing and I showed it to a couple people and they thought I was good. So, I think I'm gonna go with him."

"Me too. I want to so frickin bad it hurts!"

They paused.

"Of course," Lily continued, "I don't think it matters now."

"Don't say that," Kurt said. "We have to keep our hopes up somewhat."

Lily sighed. "You're right."

"Keep telling yourself that we'll get out of here. All of us. And the two of us and Bernie are gonna go to California together."

"Okay."

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19**

**Eliminated**

**Isaac Yarberg**

**35 Contestants Remaining**


	11. Luck

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 7:02 AM

Kurt and Lily made their way westward. The first danger zone, A-5, had just been activated, but it was up on the northern shore of the island and Kurt and Lily were in the south, so they did not worry much about walking into it.

They were more afraid of walking into someone else.

"Kurt," Lily asked, "where are we going?"

"There's some kind of fortress in the west," Kurt responded. "I think we'll be safe there."

"Well, do you honestly think we're the first ones to think to go there?"

Kurt had not thought of that.

"Shit," he said with a sigh. "You're right. If we go there and someone with a gun meets us, we're fucked."

Kurt and Lily had received a machete and hedgeclippers respectively, making them two of the worst armed students on the island considering many guns had been given out.

"Kurt," Lily said nervously, "we need a gun."

Kurt was going to say that that was obvious, but then he realized what she meant: they need to TAKE one.

Neither one wanted to play, but did they have any choice?

As they tried to think things out, a voice screamed out:

"SHOW ME YOUR FUCKING WEAPONS!"

Both Kurt and Lily jolted around to see who it was, and they recognized the shooter instantly as Vicky Rivas (Girl #21), a tall and strong Hispanic girl who was a known street hood. She started smoking cigarettes and weed at only age eleven and had been arrested for assault, being sentenced to community service, at age fourteen. Kurt and Lily forgot to even think of her when they were listing potentially dangerous students, but now she stood in front of them holding a Colt M1911 pistol. Kurt recognized the gun from using it at the end of Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, his favorite video game of all time. That would be kind of ironic, he thought.

Kurt and Lily both slowly pulled their weapons out of their bags and put them on the ground.

"Nice try," Vicky said. "Betcha got guns hidden behind your backs don'tcha?"

"No we don't," Lily said nervously turning around and lifting up her shirt a little to show that she had nothing hidden. Kurt did the same.

Vicky paused.

Lily spoke again. "Are you gonna kill us?"

Vicky showed no expression on her face whatsoever. "That's the name of the game, girl."

Kurt and Lily braced themselves. This is it...

"Drop the gun," another voice, this time a boy's, cut in.

Kurt, Lily, and Vicky all looked and saw Neil standing on the edge of the trees holding Dirty Harry's gun, a S&W M29 revolver.

Vicky panicked, and fired a shot off in Neil's direction, ultimately missing him, before running off into the woods. Neil ran after her, but not to shoot her; he wanted to just make sure that she was leaving. Before long, she had disappeared.

When Vicky was gone, Neil turned to Kurt and Lily.

"Those are your weapons?" Neil asked blankly.

Kurt and Lily nodded.

"We need a gun," Lily said suddenly. "We won't make it very long with these."

Neil paused.

"You're right," he said finally. "So far I've seen quite a few people with guns."

"Like who?" Kurt asked.

"Bernie and Manny have guns, and they're together. Ursula, Alan, Jack, and Phil have guns too as far as I know. And of course Vicky too. But I'm sure there are more."

"Can we come with you?" Lily asked impulsively, somewhat regretting it immediately afterward.

Kurt looked at Lily in shock. They had decided earlier that Neil was someone to avoid, even though he had just saved their lives.

"I think you need to," Neil said. "You won't make it long without me or someone with a gun. But you need to keep up. Okay?"

Kurt nodded, and Lily said "okay."

"All right I think we should head eastward, bec-"

"We were heading to the fortress in the west," Kurt interrupted.

"That's not a good idea," Neil responded. "Everyone will think to go there because it seems safe. I think that's what the Administrator wants: confrontation."

"You're right," Lily jumped in. "But where do you think we should go?"

"Towards the library in the northeast," Neil said, pointing to it on his map.

There was a silence for a few seconds, before Kurt spoke again.

"Is there a way out of this?"

"I highly doubt it," Neil said stoically.

"Well I'm not giving up like that," Lily said, snapping her fingers at the last word.

"Well do you think anyone could figure a way out?" Neil asked.

"Alan," Kurt said immediately. "If I know Alan, that guy won't go down without trying."

"You trust him?" Neil asked.

"Yeah I do. We both do."

Lily nodded.

"Well," Neil said after a moment, "if we find him, we'll at least give him the benefit of the doubt alright?"

Kurt and Lily nodded.

"All right let's get moving," Neil said.

From there, the most unlikely alliance on the island made their way towards the northeast.

…

Ursula had run from the fortress where she was nearly killed by Warren (who was now dead himself, as she learned from the morning announcement) as long as she could, which was longer than she had ever run in her life. While not seriously crippled, the bullet that whizzed by her face hitting a wall that sent shrapnel into her cheek and left eye did sting. Fortunately she was not blinded by the debris; Ursula considered herself lucky.

Lucky? Lucky for WHAT? Lucky that she was not blinded early on in a gladiator battle? Luck was not on this island.

The more Ursula thought about it, the more she realized that she was angry at Warren for NOT killing her. Warren is dead and out of the game, so his problems are over, Ursula thought to herself.

I could end my problems too, she also thought.

Ursula eyed her silver Beretta M9, knowing that it could, in theory, take her out of the game for good. What if she won? She had no one to go home to; she was in foster care after her mother's murder and stepfather's arrest, and they barely paid any attention to her. She figured that leaving them would do nothing but save them money on food and clothes and school. It was not that they were bad people, and it was not that Ursula was a troublemaker; in fact, she had managed to not turn to drugs or alcohol or even cigarettes yet. Ursula just felt like her life was going nowhere, and being in this game was nowhere.

Ursula made up her mind. She picked up her gun, and put it to her temple. Just one squeeze and you're free, she thought...

But she just could not do it. No matter how miserable and hopeless she felt, she could not pull the trigger.

As she pulled the gun harshly away from her head, she broke down crying.

After crying for a moment, she remembered someone. Jack. He had actually tried to stop the gunfight between her and Warren. To her, that meant he was either caring or stupid. Ursula guessed (and prayed) that he was the former, and decided to find him. Thinking about it further though, she realized he was probably with his football player friends, Alan and Phil and Charlie (oh wait, he's dead too) and Derek (wait, was Derek here at all?) and maybe the team mascot Eric?

However, Ursula decided that she trusted all of the guys she thought of, whether they were here or not. She decided that if she was safe with ANYONE, it was Jack and his buddies.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19**

**35 Contestants Remaining**

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE: The chapters are, hopefully, going to get longer from this point forward.**

**Also, in the next chapter, a truly badass character will rise.)**


	12. Badass

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 7:17 AM

Vicky had always thought that she was unafraid of her classmates. But, she discovered, anyone can look threatening on the other end of a gun. Neil could have shot her just as easily as she could have shot Kurt and Lily.

Wait, she thought, why DIDN'T I shoot Kurt and Lily? They would have been two easy kills. No no, Neil would have shot me at that second.

Hang on, why didn't I just shoot Neil? Sure I shot at him once, but it was a panic shot. I could have kept a cool head and killed him, so why didn't I?

The more Vicky thought, the closer she came to the inevitable conclusion: despite her reputation as a badass, she did not have what it takes to kill another person. Even in this life-or-death game, she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger.

Don't go soft now girl! Not now! Not EVER, but ESPECIALLY not now! They're afraid of you at school, they'll be afraid of you here!

Vicky was now on a mission. Not just to win, but to prove to herself that she WAS the badass everyone has come to believe she is. That she COULD take a classmate's life.

…

Bernie and Manny were resting, seated on a fallen tree trunk in a small clearing.

"Hey Manny," Bernie said after a long silence between the two.

"Yeah?" Manny responded.

"Why aren't you on the basketball team? You're one of the tallest kids in the grade, you could be great! We could use someone as tall as you."

Manny smirked. "I tried out freshman year, but I didn't make the cut. The coach said to me, 'I've never seen a black kid suck at basketball so hard'."

Bernie stared. "The coach actually said that to you?"

Manny nodded.

"Wasn't that a little..." Bernie paused. "...racist?"

Manny shrugged. "I guess maybe, a little, but I was more upset at the fact that he was right."

"You didn't report him?"

"Nah. He'd probably deny it anyway. And it could have become a big news thing, and I'm pretty camera-shy."

He paused. "Of course, I may never see him again. Or anyone else in America for that matter."

"Don't say that man," Bernie said, ever optimistic, "we'll get out of here."

…

Vicky secretly listened in on Bernie and Manny's conversation. From where she was hiding, she could see their guns, and realized they could probably defend themselves; if she shot one, the other could have time to run off, and possibly shoot back, and Vicky, having no gun-wielding experience, doubted she could hit a moving target.

She needed the guns away from them.

"DROP THE GUNS!" Vicky yelled out.

Shocked, Bernie and Manny stood up, and dropped their guns on the ground.

"Kick them away!" Vicky said, emerging from her hiding place. The boys immediately obliged.

Vicky walked towards them, pointing her Colt M1911. "Sorry boys, but I'm playing to win."

"Don't do this!" Bernie blurted out nervously. "We don't want to play. We want to figure out a way off this island."

"That's impossible, you annoying fuck. One person lives, and I'm not dying here. You should make peace with that now."

"We want to at least try. Please, just let us go." Bernie was close to crying at this point.

"Sorry you little bitch, but it's over-"

"Drop the gun Vicky," a calm, female voice suddenly called out. Vicky, Bernie, and Manny all looked in the direction of the voice (with Vicky backing away in case either of the boys tried anything).

They saw Jennifer Springer (Girl #2), a popular and strong field hockey player, nicknamed the "Ginger Ninja" due to her dark red hair on top of her tough, tomboyish nature and refusal to back down from a fight. Despite the fact that Vicky held a gun, Jennifer was coolly walking towards her with a fairly small knife. Both boys admired her courage, but also thought she seemed pretty dumb walking towards Vicky, who could shoot her at any moment. She held her knife at a downward angle, as if to stab down at someone.

"Are you serious right now?" Vicky said, incredulous that Jennifer was trying to stand up to her with a comparatively lame knife. "I'm killing these guys, and then I'm gonna kill you too."

"Trust me Vicky," Jennifer said, still calm, "I don't wanna hurt you. But I'll kill you where you stand if you don't back off those two."

"Are you kidding me?" Vicky was shocked at Jennifer's tenacity. "Why should I be afraid of you, you dike bitch?"

Bernie and Manny looked at Jennifer, thinking she'd be mad now, but her calm expression remained.

"I can kill you Vicky. But I don't want to. Drop the gun. Now." Bernie and Manny both realized that Jennifer hadn't even blinked since this exchange started, or if she did, they didn't notice.

"Oh fuck you!" Vicky turned and pointed her gun at Jennifer.

Bernie and Manny thought they knew what was gonna happen next. But they were wrong. The second before Vicky pulled the trigger, the real reason Jennifer held her knife at that angle was explained: there was a button on the bottom of it. She aimed it directly at Vicky's head and pressed the button, launching the blade into Vicky's forehead, about half of an inch above her left eye, killing her almost instantly. Her body hit the ground before the boys could figure out what just happened.

Manny stared in disbelief at the blade sticking out of her head, while Bernie looked at Jennifer in awe.

"What the fuck was that?" Manny asked, still in shock.

"It's called a ballistic knife," Jennifer said, still borderline unnervingly calm. "It's used by Russian special forces."

Bernie was impressed. "How do you know that?"

"It was in the manual," Jennifer said with a smirk.

Bernie nodded and grinned.

"When I found it in my bag," Jennifer continued, "I read the manual and practiced launching the blade into a tree. After about an hour or so, I realized I could get the blade within an area roughly the size of a person's head. But believe me when I say I didn't want to kill Vicky."

"Well," Manny finally spoke, "thanks for doing it. We owe you one."

Jennifer smiled. "It was nothing." After pausing, she continued. "Were you serious about what you said Bernie?"

"What do you mean?" Bernie responded.

"About trying to escape."

Bernie nodded. "Yes, I was. I wanna get some people together and see what we can do. We should at least talk things out as a group."

"If there's one person I wanna find," Manny jumped in, "it's Mr. Hawley. I don't think anyone could shoot him. And I know he hasn't lost it yet. Not like Vicky did."

"I don't care who we find," Bernie added, "I just hope they don't try to kill us when we find them."

"You guys have had guns this whole time?" Jennifer said, annoyed at seeing the guns by the boys' feet.

"Well," Bernie replied, "she snuck up on us and forced us to drop them."

Jennifer nodded. "Fair enough I guess."

"Which way should we go?" Manny asked, changing the subject.

"I was headed for the library in the northeast," Jennifer said, "let's head that way."

"All right," Bernie nodded, "let's go!"

The boys picked up their guns, and headed north.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21**

**Eliminated**

**Vicky Rivas**

**34 Contestants Remaining**

**(AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yeah, I'm sorry I took a year to update this, but I've been busy in school and have only just recently gotten back to these stories, and I've spent most of my time so far working on my other story, SaveHouse Royale. I'll be working on both as much as possible, and even if it takes 10 years, both stories will wrap up.)**


	13. Knowing

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 7:30 AM

Elizabeth and Quinn had made their way to the church without incident, and quickly found their way to the belfry. While they were weakly armed (Elizabeth's handsaw being their only literal weapon), Quinn's tracker would be able to alert them if someone approached. However, the device could only tell that someone was approaching, not if that person was friendly.

Quinn, ever the thinker, was worried about this. From where they were hiding, they would only be able to see who was passing by if one of them peeked above it, potentially exposing them to gunfire.

Quinn explained this to Elizabeth, but the latter responded with, "well, we have to try. Otherwise, we'll never know if someone helpful could have gone by."

After the two sat in silence for a few minutes, Elizabeth spoke again. "Do you think she suffered?"

Quinn raised her right eyebrow in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I mean Irene...do you think she died quick and painlessly, or do you think her last moments were brutal and awful?"

"Oh God..." Quinn was troubled by the thought. "I hope she didn't know what hit her, but I frankly don't wanna think about it. It's too awful."

Elizabeth nodded, when suddenly, Quinn's tracker began beeping. Someone was approaching.

Quinn looked at the device and saw a blue dot moving their way. A boy was approaching.

"What do we do?" Elizabeth whispered.

"Just stay down," Quinn whispered back.

Elizabeth knew she should stay down, but she couldn't risk it being a friend. She knew it was a boy, so it very well could have been a nice guy like Kurt or Alan or even Mr. Hawley.

She had to know for sure.

"Quinn," she whispered, "I'm gonna check."

"Don't even think about it!" Despite whispering, Quinn sounded as if she was yelling at Elizabeth.

"I have to..."

"You'll get killed!"

It was no use. Elizabeth started to peek above the edge of the bell tower railing.

You idiot, Quinn thought to herself.

Elizabeth stood up and looked down to the ground, trying to find out who was nearby. In a fatal case of bad luck, the boy looked up right as Elizabeth peeked over the edge, and he saw her.

Oh shit, she thought...

Daniel Masterson! Unbeknownst to her, he was the one who killed her lifelong best friend Irene with the MAC-10 he still held.

"Hi Elizabeth," he said calmly. "How interesting it is to see you! I was the one who killed your best friend." He had barely finished the sentence when he aimed and fired at the tower, sending over a half a dozen bullets into Elizabeth's chest (and one in her shoulder), while the bullets that missed sent pieces of limestone debris all over the place. Quinn could do nothing but watch helplessly, and when the debris started flying, she couldn't even do that, as she was forced to cover her face to protect it. Several bullets even hit the bell, making an ominous sound. Once the firing stopped, Quinn moved her hands, and saw Elizabeth laying lifeless next to the bell. She crawled over with tears in her eyes, hoping that Elizabeth was still alive so she could at least say goodbye, but she was gone.

Now I know how Irene went, she thought to herself.

Horribly, it wasn't over. The tracker continued beeping, and when Quinn looked back at it, she realized the dot was getting closer. Daniel was now_ inside _the church.

Quinn guessed that he was coming for Elizabeth's weapon. Whatever the reason, there was only one way out, and if she went that way, Daniel would kill her too.

But Quinn noticed something that could potentially save her: she locked door to the belfry when she and Elizabeth arrived. Still though, the door was made of wood, and Daniel could get through fairly easily, especially with his machine gun.

Quinn put her tracker and Elizabeth's saw into her bag, and realized there was only one way out: she had to climb down the outside of the tower. She looked over the side and saw that it was only a short drop to the roof of the church, but there was nothing to hide behind, not even a chimney. Still though, she dropped her bag down to the roof and then hopped down after it. She picked it up and ran around the edge of the roof, looking for a safe way down. After running around the length of the roof, she was back where she started, and realized there was one way out: she had to jump. From about twenty feet.

This is gonna suck, she thought.

As a few more gunshots rang out, as Daniel shot the door, and Quinn clenched her teeth and jumped. On impact, she felt a searing pain in her left angle. She knew it would happen: she had sprained her ankle. As she hobbled toward the woods as fast as possible (staying alongside the church so Daniel wouldn't see her), she began to cry as a million thoughts raced through her mind.

My two closest friends are dead! My foot is in a ton of pain! I'm alone! I have a fucking _saw _as a weapon! I might as well go back and let Daniel shoot me!

Then, she shuddered at what she saw next: Zachary the goth, pointing a shotgun at her. Quinn fell to her knees and broke out in tears again.

Zachary walked toward her, hoping to console her. Even if he wanted to shoot her, which he didn't, he couldn't shoot her while she looked so pathetic.

"Quinn it's okay," he said, "I don't wanna play. I won't shoot you."

"BULLSHIT!" Quinn screamed, not caring anymore if Daniel heard. "I'm better off dead!"

"Look Quinn, we've gotta move, I just heard gunfire up there and-"

"I FUCKING KNOW! HE KILLED MY BEST FRIENDS!" She was hysterical.

Zachary had no choice. He picked Quinn up by her arm and held her with one arm, his shotgun in the other, and ran as fast as he could to the woods as Quinn tried to keep up.

Daniel peeked over the tower and looked around. He had heard screaming, but he couldn't see who it was and ultimately gave up. He went back to searching Elizabeth's bag for her weapon, but he was puzzled. He found nothing.

Okay, he thought to himself, Elizabeth was friends with Irene. But I killed her. Who else did Elizabeth know? Well, she probably KNEW everyone, but who is that girl she's also friends with? Umm...Quinn! That's it! Quinn must have taken her weapon after I killed her. That might have been her screaming...I mean, she would have had to jump off the thing get away from me, right? That must have hurt!

Quinn thought she was good at thinking on her toes, and she was, but Daniel was better. He knew who everyone was friends with, and if he could tear those friendships apart, the survivors would snap, and as Daniel thought, they'd make this brilliant game more fun when they kill each other.

Even if he had found Quinn, he would have let her live. So she could become a killer too.

On his list: Francis or Cassidy, Zachary or Donna, cousins Heather or Andrea, and the first two members of the football team he could find; he saw that four of them were here, and if he got Alan, the coolest guy in school, everyone on the island would lose it.

It was a work of art.

…

Zachary kept running until he guessed he was safe, still holding on to the sobbing Quinn. He let go of her arm and the two of them sat down on a fallen tree log.

"Are you all right?" Zachary asked, before quickly adding, "be quiet though."

Quinn shook her head. "I think I sprained my ankle." She was starting to calm down.

"Let me see," Zachary said, "for what it's worth."

Quinn rolled up the hem of her jeans and then took her shoe and sock off. Her ankle was already badly swollen. Zachary looked at it, but he knew he couldn't do much to help.

"I think you're right," he said grimly, "it looks bad."

Quinn put her face in her palms. "Then I'm as good as dead."

Zachary thought for a moment. He knew she would slow him down, but he didn't have the heart to leave her alone, unarmed, with a sprained ankle (well, he thought it sprained, but he didn't know for sure since he wasn't a doctor or anywhere close to one).

He made up his mind. "Come with me," he said to her.

She looked surprised. "Really?"

"I can't leave you like this. But you need to do everything you can to keep up, okay?"

Quinn nodded.

"And also," Zachary added, "I need you to help me find Donna."

Quinn smiled for the first time since meeting him; she pulled out her tracker and said warmly, "I think I can help."

Zachary looked at it. "What is this?"

"It tracks everyone here. Red means girl, blue means boy."

"Does it say who specifically it is?"

"No, just boy or girl."

Zachary looked at it for a moment. "Well, this will still be pretty helpful."

Quinn smiled again.

"Well," Zachary said, "let's get moving. I know it's tough but we can't stay here. Just do your best, all right?"

"All right," Quinn said as she stood up.

They began to head south, and after a moment of silence, Quinn spoke again. "Zachary?"

Zachary looked at her. "What?"

"Thanks," she said gratefully.

Zachary nodded and smiled.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14**

**Eliminated**

**Elizabeth Chandler**

**33 Contestants Remaining**


	14. Watching

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 7:54 AM

Jennifer, Manny, and Bernie had been hiding in the library on the northeast shore of the island. The large and decrepit library shared a courtyard with the church, so they had clearly heard Daniel's attack on Quinn and Elizabeth. While Manny and Bernie had wanted to act, Jennifer said that, as awful as it was, they couldn't risk Daniel finding them too. They were all somewhat relieved, however, when they saw Quinn somehow manage to escape.

"That was a brutal fall," Bernie said, "I hope she was all right."

"Well," Jennifer replied somberly, "she _was_ limping after the fall, so she may have sprained her ankle."

"But," Manny jumped in, sounding somewhat panicky, "we did the right thing right? Well, okay, 'right' probably isn't the best word, but we were better off saving ourselves from dying too, right?" Manny was clearly desperate for some form of justification; he truly felt bad about leaving her out there alone to deal with the clearly-deranged Daniel.

"It hurts," Jennifer said, "but sometimes, you need to think about the big picture: is it worth dying to save someone else from it? It was tough for me; Quinn and I were both on the field hockey team and the girl's lacrosse team. She's a nice girl, and I felt terrible about it, but in this situation, there's one goal: survive."

"Then why did you save us?" Manny asked; Bernie looked at Jennifer with an "I-gots-ta-know" face.

Jennifer smirked. "Have you guys ever just sat in the mall, or stood on the sidewalk, and people-watched?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Bernie asked, completely lost.

Jennifer continued, "I like to look at people, and guess what they are really like just by looking at them. You gotta look in their eyes, at their body movement, the expression on their face, even what they're wearing and how they're acting with the people they're with." She paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "I do it in school pretty much every minute of every day. I've watched Daniel before, and he seems like a genuinely disturbed person. But Vicky was different. She only _wanted _to be a tough girl, but wasn't truly genuine."

"And how do you know that?" Manny asked, intrigued.

Jennifer grinned. "If she was as tough as she wanted to be, she would've shot you both immediately."

The boys both felt a chill run down their spines.

Jennifer continued, "That also goes to show that her survival instincts were virtually non-existent. She was so preoccupied with trying to prove to herself that she could kill someone, she let her guard down, which you should never do in the wild. And it doesn't get much wilder than this."

"Well," Bernie began, "I for one won't let my guard down, because I'm optimistic that we can get out of this."

"How exactly will that work?" Jennifer asked with a raised eyebrow.

Bernie paused, and said, "I don't know."

Manny rolled his eyes, while Jennifer just looked at the ground.

"But," Bernie continued, "I'm gonna keep thinking. There has to be SOMEthing."

"Yeah, you do that," Manny said sarcastically.

Changing the subject, Jennifer said "I think we should check this library out. This island is pretty old, there could be some unique history here." She titled her head up to look around, which led to Bernie noticing something odd on her collar. It was a small, rectangular hole at the top of the collar directly under her chin.

He looked at Manny's collar, and found the same thing. Then he realized something. Something that hit him like a ton of bricks: it was a microphone.

It had to be. There was no other way the men in charge could have monitored the game. It made perfect sense!

By this time, Manny and Jennifer were looking at him like he had three heads. "What's wrong with you?" Manny asked.

Bernie quickly reached into his bag and pulled out his map and pen. He began writing something on the back. Manny and Jennifer looked on intently.

**They're listening**, Bernie wrote.

Manny and Jennifer looked at him, silently but curiously. He started writing again.

**There are microphones on our collars**

A pause, then he continued.

**If there's any hope of escape, we can't talk about it**

Jennifer took his pen, and started writing herself.

**R U sure? how do you know?**

Bernie then pointed at the hole on Manny's collar. Manny then looked at Jennifer's to see if she had it too. She did. Then Manny pulled his pen out of his bag and started writing.

**Are you sure its a microphone though?**

Bernie took his pen back and started writing again.

**What else could it be?** Manny and Jennifer nodded, then Bernie continued.

**We look for matereals, and do it quietly **(Bernie was never particularly good at spelling.)

Manny wrote, **like what?**

Bernie replied with **I dont know, but keep an eye out.**

Jennifer smiled, and then finally spoke again. "So what do you think? Think these books could help?" she said with a wink.

Bernie smiled, getting her double meaning. "Sure. They could help a lot."

Manny was confused. He figured Jennifer meant something by what she said, but he didn't get it. He pulled his pen back out and wrote again.

**I don't get it, what does she mean by that?**

He showed it to Bernie, and Bernie wrote one final thing.

**There's only so much room to write on our maps...get it?**

Manny smirked, and nodded. Then the guys joined Jennifer's hunt for books that could "help".

…

Quinn was now walking with a large branch she found in the woods to help support her sprained ankle. She was moving as fast as she could, but she was still having trouble keeping up with her new and unexpected ally, the faux-goth Zachary.

Zachary wanted to move faster, but he couldn't leave her no matter how slow she was. He made sure he was never too far away from her.

After they had traveled roughly three quarters of a mile, Quinn began to break down. She started to cry.

"What's wrong?" Zachary asked as she collapsed to her knees.

"I can't do this!" she screamed through tears. "I can't keep moving like this! I'm in pain, my friends are dead, I'm slowing you down...just fucking leave me here!"

Zachary bent down and said calmly but assertively, "I know it's tough, I know you're upset and in pain, and I won't leave you, but you have _got _to be quiet. If Daniel hears us, or someone else with a gun, we're gonna be in serious trouble."

Quinn looked at him in disbelief. "Are you kidding me right now? I'm in agony, and you're telling me to shut up? FUCK YOU!"

"Please Quinn, I'm begging you-"

"I never asked you to save me! You could have left me to die, I'd be better off dead anyway-"

Before she could scream any louder, Zachary ran to her and covered her mouth.

"Please Quinn. I'm begging you. Shut the hell up!" Zachary knew he was being harsh, but he had no other choice. Quinn looked up at him with fear in her eyes.

"I'm gonna take my hand away now, and you're gonna be quiet. Do you understand me?" Zachary was afraid of _himself _at this moment.

Quinn nodded, and he moved his hand away from her mouth.

After an awkward pause, he said flatly but sincerely, "sorry."

"It's okay," Quinn said, much calmer. "I needed that."

"Here, let me help you up." Zachary extended his hand, and helped Quinn back to her feet. He then picked up her walking stick and handed it to her.

Suddenly, he heard something. Quinn's tracker was beeping. He glanced behind Quinn, and noticed someone standing nearby. He quickly grabbed the handle of his shotgun and took its strap off of his shoulder, and kept it in hand.

"What's going on?" Quinn asked nervously.

"Get behind me," Zachary said quietly but sternly. He then turned his attention to the figure standing about forty feet away, and said, "who is that? Don't try anything, or I swear I'll shoot."

Suddenly, the figure raised an object. Zachary wasn't sure at first, but he realized what it was at the last second: a crossbow.

Then, Tommy fired a bolt in their direction.

"DUCK!" He and Quinn hit the ground, but if Tommy's aim had been better, Zachary would have been too late. The bolt whizzed by, and got impaled in a tree about fifteen feet away from Zachary and Quinn.

He didn't want to do it, but he had no choice if he wanted to survive. He got on his knees and pulled the trigger. The blast was loud and ear-blistering, and effective: Tommy took the shot in his lower abdomen and fell to the ground. Zachary was in shock. Quinn lifted her head from the ground and looked over at Tommy's still-writhing body.

Zachary looked over at Quinn to make sure she was okay, when he suddenly heard Tommy's voice.

"Zachary?" Tommy said in obvious agony. He sounded like he was crying. "P-please Zachary, come here. I n-need you to do s-something for m-me."

Zachary cocked his shotgun in case Tommy tried anything, and walked over to him.

"What do you want?" Zachary tried everything he could to not look in his eyes; he had heard that one should never look into the eyes of someone he/she kills.

"Find B-becky Hall. T-tell her that I deeply c-cared for h-her. Please."

Zachary nodded. "I can do that, man. I'll find her."

"T-take the crossbow. If sh-she has a bad weapon, g-give it to her."

"I will. You have my word."

"Z-zachary?"

"What?"

"I'm s-sorry. I d-did it for her. It w-wasn't p-personal."

"It's okay. I'm sorry too."

"F-find her, and w-we'll call it e-even."

"Okay."

Then, Tommy closed his eyes, and died.

Zachary stared at his body for a minute, still in shock at what he'd done, then Quinn snapped him out of it.

"Time to turn the tables a little," she said. "Now I need you to get moving. Someone might have heard the shot."

Zachary stood up. "You're right, let's go." He picked up Tommy's crossbow and put it in his bag, and pulled the previously fired bolt out of the tree and threw it in as well, and he and Quinn continued moving south.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17, #10**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14**

**Eliminated**

**Tommy Ellis**

**32 Contestants Remaining**


	15. Ring The Bell

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 8:09 AM

Mr. Hawley made his way to the church at the northeastern part of the island, holding his 686 revolver tightly in his hand the whole way there. He had been able to see the church and saw that there was a large bell at the top, and he had a bold idea: to bring everyone together by ringing the bell.

He knew it was a risky strategy, but he felt confident because he didn't believe his students were murderers. Yes, four had already been killed, but he figured that it was panic instead of malice.

He reached the church and made his way to the top, and was horrified by the sight of Elizabeth Chandler's body, filled with bullet holes. Someone had not just killed her, but eviscerated her.

Quinn could attest that Daniel was the one responsible for the bullet holes, but she had no idea what else Daniel had done. Initially shocked by the sight, Mr. Hawley failed to notice it too.

Elizabeth's dress and underwear had been pulled to her ankles, and upon finally noticing it, Mr. Hawley decided to (as improper as he felt it to be) look between her legs to see if his horrible assumption was true.

It was; Elizabeth had been raped, and it likely happened after her death. Mr. Hawley couldn't believe it. Someone on the island was not only killing, but getting off on it. He broke down in tears, but after a minute, he managed to compose himself enough to pull Elizabeth's clothes back up, to at least let her rest with a little decency.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Hawley said sadly.

…

Daniel had heard Mr. Hawley enter the church from the confessional he was hiding in, but decided not to follow him as he was busy.

Having removed his clothes, Daniel sat in the confessional naked and thought about what he had done as he masturbated, figuring that doing so in a church was irrelevant compared to what he'd done to his two female victims so far. He would never forget the look of fear he saw in Irene's face as she stood in front of him when the game had started (he also relished the fact that he had gotten the first kill when Irene was announced first by the Administrator), and the fear he saw in her face was good enough for his sick desires. Elizabeth, however, he had shot from afar, and he wanted to see the fear in her face. When he got up to her corpse, the look of sheer terror in her still open eyes made him so excited that he needed an immediate release, so he had sex with her lifeless body.

Forty minutes later, he decided he needed another release, so he decided to leave a mark in the confessional, showing his hatred for God. He was not an Atheist; quite the contrary, he believed that God was an evil figure that made the world Hell, so he figured it couldn't possibly get any worse if he lived a life of sin.

As he continued, he saw the faces of all the students that were still alive (as far as he knew) and imagined how each and every one would react to their death, especially by his hand. Once he realized he was not quite getting off on the thought of shooting them, he imagined getting his hands on a knife (lamenting that he hadn't taken Irene's steak knife after killing her) and getting up close and personal.

The knife…the shock…the fear…the sadness…oh yeah…the horror…the hatred…Daniel thought all of these nasty thoughts on repeat until he finally climaxed, with Rachel the class skank's dying breath being the thing that finally enabled him to achieve orgasm.

"What a mess…" Daniel said to himself as he used his bandana to clean himself (he considered wearing it, but found that it would go to better use this way).

…

"Do you really think the library will be deserted?" Kurt asked as Neil led him and Lily toward the northeast.

"Well," Neil responded, "after the gunfire earlier, I think people will try to stay away, but we've got to be especially careful."

"Do you think anyone might've been killed there?" Lily asked worriedly.

Neil sighed. "It's a strong possibility."

Lily started getting choked up.

"Hey Neil," Kurt said, changing the subject, "why'd you let us join you?"

Neil paused. "I don't know…I've known you both since we were little kids, and I guess that counts for something."

"You don't trust anyone else?" Lily asked.

"Not necessarily, I've just known you guys for a long time. I ran into Oliver and Finn earlier, and I've only known them since freshman year." (They had gone to another middle school in a nearby town.)

"You don't trust them?" Kurt was surprised. "They're cool to me. Did they draw on you or something?"

"No; in fact, they're even worse armed than you too."

"And you left them alone?" Lily said, frustrated.

"Look, I didn't hurt them, they didn't hurt me, so—"

Kurt interrupted. "What if they end up on the next announcement because you didn't help them?"

Neil grimaced. "This is why."

Kurt and Lily were confused silent.

"See how angry you two are getting at what I'm saying? Well, multiply that by ten with those two."

Kurt was totally lost. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Y'know how you two managed to survive this long? You're smart. You keep moving, you think things through. You could work a little harder at watching your backs so there are no more Vicky incidents, but you're also lucky I guess. Wanna know what Oliver and Finn were doing when I found them?"

"What?"

"They were making out. They're even luckier than you two that people like Daniel didn't show up."

"Wait," Lily jumped in, "Daniel's playing? You've seen him?"

"No," Neil said, "but it's a safe bet. That kid is NOT well in the head."

"He's right," Kurt added.

"Anyway, as far as Oliver and Finn go, I don't trust them to have my back. They'd get too emotional, even more than you two, whenever I need to say something awful that needs saying."

Kurt and Lily nodded, when suddenly, a bell rang out.

…

Mr. Hawley gave a lot of thought to his plan. There was someone out there playing for keeps, but he believed in all the good students out there. People like his star students, Sam and Becky, as well as sweet girls like Lily, Andrea, Heather, and Stacy, and cool guys like Alan, Kurt, Jack, and Bernie. He trusted the good ones, and believed that they outnumbered the bad ones, like Daniel, Rachel, Henry, and (he guessed) Neil.

With a deep breath, he started ringing the bell. As there was no rope, he had to push it with his body.

Still in the library, communicating in secret, Jennifer, Manny, and Bernie ran to the window to see what was happening.

"Who's up there?" Bernie asked, shocked that someone was ringing the bell.

"I think it's Mr. Hawley!" Manny was relieved, as Mr. Hawley was his favorite teacher.

"Idiot," Jennifer grunted, "he's gonna get himself killed."

Bernie didn't believe it. "No way, Machine Gun Danny was there a while ago, he must have moved on by now."

"Did you SEE him leave?" Jennifer gave Bernie a frustrated glare.

"Well why would he…I mean he'd…he must have." Bernie's doubt grew as he spoke.

"Look, he may have, but who's to say he won't come back? And what if other kids show up? He could mow them all down!"

Bernie and Manny were worried now.

"We've gotta do something," Manny said.

"Like what?" Jennifer asked. "We go out there, we're dead too."

Bernie was unnerved. "Shit…shit…SHIT!"

…

Kurt, Lily, and Neil ran until they could see the church.

"It's Mr. Hawley," Lily observed. "He's trying to get everyone together."

"All he's doing," Neil jumped in, "is setting up a buffet for whoever has that machine gun, particularly if it's Daniel."

"Oh God," Kurt realized, "you're right…what should we do?"

"We turn around and walk away."

"No!" Lily snapped back. "I won't! I'm not gonna let him die like that if you're right, let alone anyone else!" She started crying.

Kurt hugged her. "Is there anything we can do?"

Neil thought it over for a minute. Then, he sighed.

"Get ready to run." He then pulled out his S&W M29 and aimed it skyward.

BANG! BANG!

Kurt and Lily jumped at the shots.

"Take the hint Teach," Neil said, "get the fuck outta there."

"I get it," Kurt said, "scare him off."

"Or at least the kids coming his way," Neil added. "Now start running!"

The three started to run away, until Lily suddenly stopped when she realized the bells were still ringing.

"Neil!" Lily shouted. "It didn't work! Do it again!"

Neil and Kurt stopped running. "I can't," Neil said. "It'll give us away."

Lily was angry now. "So we're gonna leave him to die? Why don't we just go back and fucking shoot him ourselves? It's the same thing, you cold bastard!"

Neil too was angry now. He stomped over to her. "Don't, EVER, call me a bastard again."

Lily was about to apologize, when he continued.

"We did what we could. In this situation, the right thing to do is the one that keeps you alive. We took enough of a risk the first time, we can't do it again."

"Look Lily," Kurt chimed in, "we tried. We may have even kept people away, but we can't do anything else."

Lily was silent, surprised that Kurt was getting so cold.

"Now let's go!" Neil said, the bells still ringing.

Mr. Hawley had ducked at the shots, but refused to give up. He still believed that there were good students coming.

Suddenly, more gunfire rang out. A machine gun.

Bullets from Daniel's MAC-10 tore through the floor below Mr. Hawley's feet and went into his feet, legs, arms, and as he started to fall, his chest.

Kurt, Lily, and Neil stopped in their tracks. Jennifer, Manny, and Bernie watched in horror as Daniel shot his second church victim.

"Jesus Christ," Bernie said.

Up in the tower, Mr. Hawley clung to life as Daniel climbed into the belfry.

"Well well well, Mr. Hawley," Daniel said as he stood above his dying teacher, "betcha wish you hadn't entered us in that little competition, huh?" Daniel shook his head. "George died, and you got to take his place. You were given quite the lucky hand, and THIS is how you played it?" Daniel then made a Tsk sound, and then picked Mr. Hawley up, straining as he did so. Finally, he got him almost upright and held him out over the edge for anyone watching.

"See this?" Daniel screamed out to whoever may have been watching. "THIS is the game. THIS is the test. What are you gonna do? Pray? Fuck? Sit around and sing Kumbaya? You can if you want, but it'll get you dead, just like our dearly departed teacher here!" He then unleashed another volley into Mr. Hawley's back, and then he threw him from the tower. Jennifer, Manny, and Bernie watched helplessly as their teacher's body slid down the roof, tumbled in the air, and then landed on his back violently.

"No…" Lily said through tears. "This…this can't be happening…this can't be real!"

"Neil," Kurt said as he consoled Lily and started to cry himself, "we have to do something. We have to try and get out of here. I know it seems impossible…but why can't we try?"

Neil smirked, the closest anyone has ever seen him come to smiling. "I don't see a reason why not."

Kurt smiled. "That's good enough for me."

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17, #10, #11**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14**

**Eliminated**

**Michael Hawley**

**31 Contestants Remaining**


	16. Snap

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 8:51 AM

"Richie," the Administrator said to his white assistant, "how long has it been since anything interesting's happened? Feels like an hour."

"Actually sir," Richie responded, "it's been thirty minutes since the teacher died."

"Oh that's right." He paused. "What's taking them so long? Usually they pick it up faster than this."

"Well sir," the Administrator's black assistant said, "we've never done this on American kids before. Hell, this is only the third time we've left Europe."

"Do you think this is wise?" Richie jumped in. "We can get away with this in some Balkan dumpster, but in America, people notice this shit."

"Not to mention most of these kids are white…" The Administrator rolled his eyes.

"It's not about race, Omar. Anyway, it's not like this has been a total secret. Some people are starting to suspect something's going on; rumors of the mysterious disappearances of entire school classes are deep in the bowels of the internet, on conspiracy theory sites. You guys should read them, they're pretty funny; my personal favorite is the one where they all have been kidnapped by aliens." The Administrator chuckled.

"But sir," Omar inquired, "whoever survives the Program, how can we be sure that they'll keep this secret?"

"First of all, I'm having trouble seeing anyone but our boy Danny winning this thing, and he will certainly keep a secret if we just ask nicely. But as for the others, we'll make it perfectly clear that we know everything about them, and that they weren't just selected by an unlucky lottery, and if they say anything, they, as well as their families, will die."

Richie and Omar nodded.

"I must say though, it's not sinking in as fast for these kids as the others. Kinda disappointing. But, I'm patient, and the tighter they pull together…" The Administrator then picked up a rubber band, and pulled it taut. "…the harder they snap." He pulled harder until the rubber band ripped in two.

…

Kurt, Lily, and Neil made their way westward, back toward the fortress they had initially decided to skip. They wanted to avoid it because it was likely to attract deadly students, but since Daniel had already appeared at their backup hideout, they figured they were wrong. Neil led the way, holding his map in his left hand and his gun in his right. Zone E-3 was minutes away from being activated, but they were nowhere near it and weren't at risk of walking into it as long as they stayed north of the school.

Kurt had kept his machete in his bag since Neil joined them, but after Mr. Hawley's death, Kurt decided it'd be best to keep it handy, so he left the handle hanging out of his bag. Lily knew he was trying to be prepared, but she still felt uneasy. She distinctly remembered how uncaring Kurt seemed about Mr. Hawley's inevitable death, even though he made what she knew was a valid point about keeping themselves safe. But what if that's how it starts? What if Kurt gets increasingly colder and eventually loses it? What if he kills me—?

Lily stopped herself as it hit her: THAT'S how they get you. Fear, and paranoia, and increasing desperation. Lily realized she was having these thoughts, because the monsters in charge wanted it.

"Kurt?" Lily asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You said that you're willing to try and find an escape. Were you serious?"

Kurt was confused. "Of course. I don't wanna be here anymore than you do. Why?"

"I don't know," Lily said sheepishly. "I guess I'm just getting paranoid. Guess that's what the Administrator wants, huh?"

"I think," Neil butt in, "the Administrator wants us to hate his guts; in addition to putting us in this horrible game, he had to give himself a painfully long-ass name. I think I'll just call him the Asshole."

"Asshole-istrator?" Kurt snarked. Lily giggled.

"Nah," Neil relied, "that's still too long. Asshole works for me."

"Fair enough," Kurt grinned.

…

Nora Lightman (Girl #15) hid up in a tree, clutching her wooden Louisville Slugger baseball bat. After the game began, she ran, and ran, and ran, and when she became too exhausted to run any farther, she climbed up the first respectable tree she could find (as a kid, she would always climb trees, and knew which ones were the best to climb).

One of three African-American students in the class, Nora was afraid of one person in particular: Henry Shaw. It was hardly a secret that Henry was a racist, and she was always scared of him. She wanted to hide in the tree at least until his name was mentioned on the announcements; if she had a gun, she may have participated, but with only a bat, she'd be an easy out for anyone with a gun. So, she decided to stay hidden as long as she could, thinking she was safe in the tree.

She was half-right: the tree offered good protection for her branch, which was nearly twenty feet high. But she had never stayed in a tree for hours on end before, and never had a branch snap from under her.

Until now.

Nora suddenly heard a strange creaking sound, followed by a loud crack. She realized at the last second she was about to fall, and grabbed another branch right as her perch fell to the ground. She tried to climb down slowly, but she grabbed onto another weakened branch and fell straight to the ground. She only received a bruise on her leg, but she was now starting to panic. What now? What if someone dangerous shows up? What if Henry shows up? Did anyone hear the branch fall?

She frantically scrambled across the ground looking for her bat, and just as she picked it up, she heard footsteps. Specifically, she heard _running._ Seeing a log nearby, she dove behind it at the last second.

"What the hell?" Neil asked. "How'd this happen?"

Kurt looked around the area. He saw nothing.

"Maybe it was just old."

Neil wasn't convinced. "Let's scan the area thoroughly, just to be sure."

Nora was terrified. There were at least two people here now. And they were looking for her. She peeked through a small space underneath the log, and saw that it was Kurt and Neil, as well as Lily. At least Henry wasn't here, she thought to herself.

But then it hit her: I don't know any of them. How can I trust them? What will they do if the find me? Nora's panic manifested itself into physical form.

As Kurt and Neil looked the other way, Nora ran straight at them with her Louisville Slugger in hand. Lily saw Nora at the last second.

"LOOK OUT!" She screamed.

Neil turned around and instinctively aimed his gun as Nora swung, hitting him in the forearm and sending his revolver flying into the bushes. He grunted in pain, and Nora wound up for another swing, at which point Kurt grabbed her arm and tackled her to the ground. It was all happening so fast for Lily, who was too shocked to do anything.

"Lily!" Kurt screamed as he wrestled with Nora. "Find the gun!"

Lily looked over as Neil started crawling through the bushes looking for his gun. "Well?" Neil snarled at Lily. "You heard him!" Lily then ran into the bushes looking for the gun with Neil.

Meanwhile, Kurt rolled around in the grass and dirt with Nora, and he successfully managed to knock the bat away from her. However, she then grabbed a rock and bashed Kurt right in the eye with it, causing him to roar with pain. Now reaching a primal state of survival, Kurt grabbed Nora by her hair and slammed her to the ground. Then he stood up and stomped her head, leaving Nora in a daze. Kurt then ran to his dropped bag and picked up his machete, right as Nora came to and started crawling toward her bat. Lily looked up for half a second to check on Kurt right as he ran at her with his machete over his head.

Still stunned, Nora heard running again, so she looked back and saw a blurry figure with something raised high over its head. Her clarity came back at the last second, as Kurt swung his machete straight down into her shoulder. She screamed in agonizing pain, which only got louder when Kurt lifted the blade out of her shoulder. He then took another swing, this time going sideways, and dug the machete into the side of her head, nearly splitting her head in half.

Lily stared in horror. Who was this? This wasn't Kurt. Kurt would never kill someone, at least not that brutally…no wait, that's not fair, she attacked first; Kurt was defending himself. But the Lily's reassuring thoughts went away when she looked at Kurt's face. She expected him to be remorseful, shocked, or probably even traumatized, but his look reinforced her fears.

He had almost no expression whatsoever.

"All right I got the-" Neil stopped. As he picked up his gun, he saw that Kurt had already taken care of their attacker.

After a pause, Neil replied with, "Guess you got it too…"

Kurt pulled the machete out of Nora's head, and looked back at Lily and Neil. He stoically asked, "Are you guys okay?" Neil nodded, while Lily remained frozen in shock.

"Lily? Are you alright?" Kurt started walking toward her, but Lily then ran off as she started to cry.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17, #10, #11**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14, #15**

**Eliminated**

**Nora Lightman**

**30 Contestants Remaining**

**(Author's note: I know, it's really tragic that Nora died, because I'd made her SOO memorable and sympathetic, and her character will be sorely missed. Okay sarcasm aside, I know that there are still a few characters that I haven't introduced yet, but the next chapter will focus on the others. Maybe some will die, maybe some will become important characters. Hell, maybe one will kill Lily! But all remaining characters will be introduced and once they are all characterized, I will post two polls: one will be "Who's your favorite character?" and the other will be "Who should die next?"**

**Please people, keep reviewing.)**


	17. Rest

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 9:17 AM

The sound of her frantic breathing was the only thing she could hear. Lily's mind had gone completely blank from terror, and she was now running for her life from the boys she had hoped would keep her safe. She had completely lost all semblance of common sense: she hadn't grabbed her bag when she started running; she didn't consider the direction she was running in, meaning that she could have theoretically run straight into a danger zone (fortunately for her, she was running west); and above all, she didn't give any consideration to any potential threats.

And a threat finally reared its head.

Out of nowhere, Lily was tackled by Tina Chen (Girl #4), the pretty but slightly dorky girl who was the only Asian student in the group. While Tina was a friendly enough girl at school, she had always felt insecure about herself and was willing to do anything to stand out in the class; at one party, she hooked up with quarterback Alan, thinking that his social standing would somehow be passed on to her. However, he treated the encounter as a one night stand, and when she became obsessive about it, she became more ostracized than ever.

But now, the situation was different, and Tina still wanted to stand out. But in this situation, standing out meant staying alive, and after spending the first few hours of the game hiding in the old fortress (where she witnessed Alan shooting Warren), she realized that she needed to fight. Despite her small stature, and with only a butterfly knife as a weapon, she was determined to finally stand out. And Lily was the first step.

Because Lily came running quickly, Tina wasn't able to score a direct hit with her knife when she tackled her, but she did knock Lily off her feet and then came in with her knife. As Tina swung the blade down, Lily grabbed her arm and stopped it. Now the blade hung five inches above Lily's face as the girls' almost equal strengths balanced each other out. However, Lily knew she was in the worse position, so she removed her right hand from Tina's forearm and punched her in the face, leaving Lily just enough of a window to escape her clutches. She then reached for her hedgeclippers, but then came to the horrible realization that she had forgotten her bag. As she realized this, Tina got up and ran at Lily, and took another swing, which Lily dodged. Tina then swung again, but Lily dove to the ground and then picked up a rock and threw it at Tina, hitting her in the chest. Tina remained unfazed however, and kept running, when suddenly, a gunshot rang out, hitting a tree near Tina's head causing an explosion of splinters. Tina froze in her tracks and looked in the direction of the shooter.

It was Neil, holding his Dirty Harry gun. He now aimed directly at Tina, who stared in terror, the frightened little girl from the departure coming back. Tina then ran away in tears, with Neil refusing to take another shot. Neil then looked at Lily, and calmly asked, "Are you alright?" Lily nodded, as Kurt appeared from behind Neil.

"Lily," Kurt spoke gently, "I'm sorry that I scared you. I only wanted to protect you."

Lily just continued to stare silently at him.

"I was mad, okay? I was mad that Nora was putting us—" he stopped and corrected himself "—putting YOU in danger. I wasn't having it."

Lily began to realize how stupid her actions were.

"I would have done anything to keep you safe."

Lily then stood up and walked toward Kurt, starting to cry again, and gave him a hug. "I forgive you," she said through tears.

"C'mon guys," Neil jumped in, "we need to keep moving."

…

Cassidy Irving (Girl #1) had so far spent the duration of her game searching for her boyfriend, Francis Baker (Boy #4), but in the four and a half hours the game had been going, she had been unable to find him.

Even though they had been together for only three months, Cassidy was completely in love with Francis. They had not had sex yet, but not because they didn't want to; they couldn't do it at Francis's house since Francis's obese mother was always home, and they couldn't risk it at Cassidy's house since her father was a religious police officer, and if he came home during the act, they both agreed that he would likely kill Francis. Now, however, with their lives in the balance, all Cassidy wants to do one more time is see his handsome face. Even though she was armed with a measly lead pipe, she was determined to find him.

Francis felt the same way.

"Cassidy!" Francis called out. She turned around and in what was likely the first moment of true happiness on this island since the beginning, Cassidy began crying tears of joy. They ran to each other, and kissed each other passionately, both in tears.

"I never thought I'd see you again!" Cassidy spoke through sobs.

"I thought the same thing," Francis said, "it's a miracle."

"What are we gonna do?" Cassidy's happiness vanished. "I can't kill anyone, especially you."

"Me too," Francis said, "I wouldn't wanna live without you. I love you Cassidy."

"We just HAD to go to Paris," Cassidy said. "You suggested the backseat of your car, but I thought we should do it Paris for the first time. For once, being a perv was the smarter decision."

Francis chuckled. "No, it was a good idea. No one could have seen this coming." He paused, and then spoke again. "It's not too late, y'know…"

Cassidy looked at him curiously. "Too late for what?"

Francis then pulled out his map. "Okay, we're here—" he pointed to roughly their position "—and there is a building only a little bit from here." He then pointed to the customs house on the map. "I checked it out earlier, and there are a lot of rooms there that we can lock ourselves into."

Cassidy looked at him in surprise. "We're in the middle of a deathmatch, and you want to have sex?"

"It might be our last chance."

Cassidy thought it over, and realized he was right.

Next thing Cassidy knew, she was running with Francis towards the building. They got inside, but then Francis turned around and set up his designated bear trap right at the doorstep, and then he concealed it under a mess if branches and leaves.

"DO NOT forget about that thing," Francis said. Cassidy nodded, and then they made their way upstairs into the first room they found. They then crawled into the bed, and started disrobing each other as they kissed.

In the very next room, Donna, who had decided that this building would be a decent hiding place, listened as the couple made love to each other. She was amazed that two people (after continued listening, she realized they were Francis and Cassidy) could possibly want to have sex in a situation like this. Then she realized that Isaac made three, and started laughing to herself.

"Who'd have thought?" Donna said to herself. "Never had sex in my life, and in a screwed up game like this, everyone starts fucking each other." She kept laughing, but then realized she had to stay quiet or the couple would hear her. But, Donna realized that they probably couldn't, given the noises coming from the next room. She listened for the next five minutes or so, until she heard Cassidy finally orgasm. Donna then smiled to herself.

"Good job Francis," she said quietly and sarcastically.

…

Raphael Dwyer (Boy #2) and Heather Young (Girl #3) made their way past the customs house and walked north along the eastern shore. Raphael, as the third person out the door at the game's start, initially ran as fast as he could, but upon the discovery of his weapon—a screwdriver—he ran back to see if he could ally himself with someone. When he arrived, Heather was just making her way out of the school, and while she screamed when she saw him, he put her at ease when he showed her his screwdriver, and asked if she'd be willing to pair up with him so they could keep each other safe; he also offered to help her find her cousin Andrea Harris (Girl #9), and when he said that, she agreed to go with him.

As the sole openly gay student in their entire grade, Raphael was very friendly with most of the girls in their grade, Heather and Andrea included. Since Heather felt useless with her weapon, an ancient Luger P08 pistol, which according to the manual that came with it, was used in World War II, she decided to let Raphael handle it, feeling she could trust him.

"Do you think Andrea's alive?" Heather asked.

"Well," Raphael responded, "she wasn't mentioned on the announcement, so at the very least she has a decent chance of it." He paused. "But, I don't know."

Heather paused for a moment.

"I wonder if she's looking for me too," Heather pondered aloud.

Meanwhile, on the southwestern portion of the island, Andrea was also determined to find her cousin, and was also allied with someone: Stacy Jenkins (Girl #18), a short girl with a very slim build and a very religious background. Andrea and Stacy bumped into each other shortly before the first announcement, and with Stacy having a CZ75 pistol and Andrea having only a can of mace, Stacy agreed to help Andrea find Heather.

"Andrea," Stacy said, breaking a long silence, "do you believe in God? I mean I see you at the service all the time but you never look like you want to be there."

Andrea thought it over. "It's…complicated. Before we came here, I wanted to believe, but I don't know if I really did." She paused. "But now? This? I'm not sure if I want to believe in a God that could let something like this happen."

Stacy looked at Andrea. "I know it's hard at this point to believe in Him, but He has been testing humanity from the beginning. I doubt He'll ever stop. We just need to have faith."

"Sure Stacy, faith." Andrea smiled, but when Stacy looked away, she rolled her eyes.

…

Alan, Jack, Phil, and Eric stopped to rest for a moment at a clearing that was overlooking the school where they had begun the game. Phil had volunteered to stand guard as the other three rested on a log, and Alan stared at the building.

"Why was there a classroom inside that place?" Alan asked aloud. "It clearly isn't a school."

"Maybe they were trying to screw with us," Eric replied. "Dick with our heads to make us crazy. You got me?" Alan and Jack nodded.

"There's no way we could do anything to them," Jack said. "They're too secure."

Alan sighed. "You're probably right." Eric looked at the ground in sadness.

Phil wasn't really listening to the others; he spent his time standing guard scanning the trees while trying to think of something. A million thoughts raced through his mind, but none were helpful. Suddenly, he saw movement ahead of them. Aiming his (well, Warren's) pistol, he stood firm.

"Don't move!" Phil called out. "Don't try anything funny! Drop your weapon." At this point, Alan and Jack were next to him, guns drawn.

"No please! Don't shoot!" The female voice sounded scared to death. She then threw her bag on the ground and walked towards them with her hands in the air.

"I don't wanna die. Please don't hurt me." She was in tears, and while the other guys stood guard, Eric looked at her in happy shock.

"Pauline? Is that you?"

"Eric?" Pauline was ecstatic to see him. They weren't the closest friends, but they made each other laugh in the few classes they were in together and got along very well. They ran and hugged each other as the other three guys looked on and smiled.

"You guys are all together?" Pauline asked.

"Yeah," Eric responded, "they've been watchin' my back. Probably be dead without these guys."

"We were just resting up," Alan jumped in, "you're welcome to come and rest a while with us."

"Yeah sounds good," Pauline said, "I haven't gotten any rest since I got here. Let me just get my bag."

"Nah I'll grab it, it's cool," Phil said as he jogged off to get her bag.

As the others sat down on the log, Phil picked up Pauline's bag and found her weapon, a hatchet. As he knelt down to put the hatchet in the bag, he did not notice Tina coming up behind him (the others didn't notice either). Because Phil was wearing the same Letterman's jacket as Alan, and they both had brown hair and an almost identical build, it wasn't hard for Tina, in her jealous and deranged state, to mistake him for Alan. He put the duffel bag's strap over his shoulder, and suddenly noticed footsteps coming up behind him. He turned around just in time to see Tina dig her knife into his own stomach. She realized after the fact that it wasn't Alan, and pulled the knife out of his gut in shock. Unfortunately, taking the knife out made the injury worse, and he slumped to the ground.

Tina looked on in horror as he bled out quickly. Remorsefully, she asked, "Phil?" right as a bullet from Alan's rifle hit her in the side of the head, blowing her brains out and killing her instantly. The four of them ran over to Phil to comfort him.

"Phil? Stay with us man! Stay with us!" Alan tried putting pressure on the wound, but Phil's chest continued to gush nonstop. Alan started to break down, realizing that this is the second time someone has killed his friend, and he was too late to save them. As with Charlie, Alan looked right into Phil's eyes as he died.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! No please God no! Don't do this!" Alan was in hysterics, and Eric and Pauline held each other in tears.

Jack, however, stood emotionless.

This is real, he thought to himself. It's not gonna stop. It's only gonna get worse, and there's nothing I can do about it. Why bother? Getting out of here wouldn't be winning; how could anyone live with winning _THIS?!_

"Alan," Jack said. Alan looked up as Jack continued, "I can't do this." Jack then put his gun to his head.

"NO!" Pauline screamed as she grabbed for the gun; she couldn't get it out of his hands, but she prevented him from committing suicide at least.

"This isn't worth it! We can't get out! We're fucked! I can't do this! I can't—" Jack was cut off, however, when Alan punched him in the face.

His eyes still red, Alan looked at Jack with anger. "What happened to the guy who jumped in front of Ursula and Warren hoping to stop the shooting? Where's the ballsy, fearless badass I've been friends with since sixth grade? WHO IS THIS LITTLE BITCH I'M LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW?!"

"The old Jack's dead," Jack snapped back, "and soon enough, this new guy will be too."

Alan grabbed Jack by his collar and spoke angrily to him. "I've lost two friends for sure so far, and there's plenty of others that could be dead too. Kurt, Zachary, Manny, who knows? I'm not about to have another one look me in the eyes as they die! Now put your balls back on and help me take the Administrator and his bitches down! DO YOU HEAR ME?!" Eric and Pauline watched the whole exchange in stunned silence, and Jack finally responded meekly, "I hear you."

"Good," Alan said, calm once again. "Now let's get moving."

…

Zachary and Quinn continued moving south, immediately east of zone E3. Quinn was starting to get the hang of using her makeshift crutch and was relying on Zachary for movement less and less.

"You're getting good at that," Zachary said warmly.

"Yeah," Quinn paused, "…still hurts like a bitch though.

"Well don't worry about—" Zachary paused.

"What?" Quinn asked confused, until she heard it too: the tracker was beeping. Zachary pulled out Quinn's tracker and realized that not one, but _two _dots were coming toward them.

"Stay back and be quiet," Zachary whispered as he and Quinn hid behind a tree.

"It's a boy and a girl," Quinn said quietly.

They laid down flat on the ground as the two figures came closer. They walked by, and they both recognized them as Sam Jenson (Boy #3) and Becky Hall (Girl #11), the top students of each class. Zachary then noticed Sam's weapon: a machine gun. An Uzi, to be exact. Zachary realized that he could be another source of the constant machine-gunfire, and decided to act.

"Drop the gun!" He screamed at Sam, causing both Sam and Becky to stop in their tracks. Sam complied and placed the gun on the ground. "You too Becky!" She turned around and smirked at him. "Never was much of a friggin' ninja," she said sarcastically as she put her katana sword on the ground.

"Take it easy," Sam said, "we don't wanna hurt anyone. We're trying to think of a way off the island."

"Hasn't gone very well so far," Becky snarked.

"We're searching the whole island," Sam continued, "and the only place we have left to check is the church and the library."

Zachary frowned and looked at Quinn, remembering what had transpired at the church.

"What?" Becky asked. "What happened there?"

Zachary didn't know what to say, but Quinn said "Elizabeth died there. Daniel did it. I watched her die." Tears filled her eyes.

Sam and Becky paused. "I'm sorry," Sam said, "that's horrible."

"Well we need to check it out," Becky said, "it's all we have left. If there's nothing there, there's nothing. Period."

"We're gonna get as many people together as we can," Sam added. "If we can get enough people, maybe we can revolt."

Zachary shook his head. "You guys are crazy." He paused. "But, in this situation, you gotta fight crazy with crazy."

"No, fight crazy with crazier," Becky jumped in.

"Well," Zachary continued, "we have a tracking device which might help, but I need it until I find Donna."

Sam checked out the device and nodded in approval. "I respect that, but find her quick, yeah?"

Zachary smiled and nodded.

"Might as well stick with us," Becky said, "she may well be at the church."

Zachary nodded, but then looked at Quinn. "Is that okay with you?" Quinn paused, but nodded.

"Let's move," Sam said, picking up his machine gun.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17, #10, #11, #21**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14, #15, #4**

**Eliminated**

**Tina Chen**

**Phil Raymond**

**28 Contestants Remaining**


	18. PROGRAM UPDATE

"Omar," the Administrator said, "have you completed the update yet?"

"Yes sir," Omar said. "It's printing now."

Richie walked over to the printer and took the sheets of paper that came out. "Here you go sir," he said to the Administrator as he handed him the files.

Through listening to conversations and hearing the gunfire, Omar and Richie were able to compile a comprehensive list of information of the game so far, including weapons, behavioral analysis, and a projected outcome and runtime.

The Administrator read:

...

PROGRAM UPDATE #1, GAME #18, 7/17/2010.

LOCAL TIME: 10:02 AM

The eighteenth cycle of the Newfoundland Risers study program commenced at 4:48 AM local time. Forty-two students were assigned to the task of killing each other, the most contestants to date; for the first time, American students have been enlisted. Also for the first time, the student's teacher was enlisted as part of the program due to an unforeseen circumstance during the game's introduction. Two more games are scheduled after this game's conclusion, at which point the organization will establish itself on the world stage. The next two games will also feature American students.

DETAILS:

Deaths - 15

Still Playing - 28

Activated Danger Zones - D3 (starting zone; 4:48 AM), A5 (7 AM), E3 (9 AM)

Impending Danger Zones - H6 (11 AM)

CONTESTANTS: (_dead in italics)_

BOYS:

1. Alan Edwards - Weapon: Dragunov sniper rifle; Allies: Jack Underhill, Pauline Thiessen, Eric Allen, _Charlie Davis, Phil Raymond;_ Kills: Warren Gaston, Tina Chen

2. Raphael Dwyer - Weapon: Screwdriver; Allies: Heather Young

3. Sam Jenson - Weapon: Uzi sub-machine gun; Allies: Becky Hall, Zachary Garrett, Quinn Gilroy

4. Francis Baker - Weapon: Bear trap; Allies: Cassidy Irving

5. Manny Barrett - Weapon: S&W M19; Allies: Jennifer Springer, Bernie O'Riordan

6. Oliver Velize - Weapon: Kitchen knife; Allies: Finn Andrews

7. Daniel Masterson - Weapon: Ingram MAC-10 machine gun; Kills: Irene Baxter, Elizabeth Chandler, Michael Hawley

8. Jack Underhill - Weapon: SIG Sauer P226; Allies: Alan Edwards, Pauline Thiessen, Eric Allen, _Charlie Davis, Phil Raymond_

9. Kurt Falliwell - Weapon: Machete; Allies: Lily Carmody, Neil Quinley; Kills: Nora Lightman

10. _Tommy Ellis _- Weapon: Crossbow; Kills: Vincent Iriloni; Killed by Zachary Garrett (shotgun blast to the abdomen)

11 (original). _George Naly_ - Killed before game start (self-imposed accidental collar detonation)

11 (replacement). _Michael Hawley_ - Weapon: S&W M686; Killed by Daniel Masterson (machine gun rounds through the back)

12. Eric Allen - Weapon: Taser; Allies: Alan Edwards, Jack Underhill, Pauline Thiessen, _Charlie Davis, Phil Raymond_

13. Henry Shaw - Weapon: Bulletproof vest; Kills: Isaac Yarberg

14. _Vincent Iriloni _- Weapon: KA-BAR combat knife; Killed by Tommy Ellis (bolt to the lung)

15. _Warren Gaston_ - Weapon: Walther PPK; Kills: Charlie Davis; Killed by Alan Edwards (sniper round in the chest)

16. Bernie O'Riordan - Weapon: Beretta 92FS; Allies: Jennifer Springer, Manny Barrett

17. _Isaac Yarberg_ - Weapon: S&W .38 Chief's Special; Killed by Henry Shaw (strangled)

18. _Charlie Davis_ - Weapon: Switchblade; Allies: Alan Edwards, Jack Underhill, Eric Allen, Pauline Thiessen, _Phil Raymond;_ Killed by Warren Gaston (shot through the chest)

19. Zachary Garrett - Weapon: Remington 870 shotgun; Allies: Sam Jenson, Donna King (prospective), Becky Hall, Quinn Gilroy; Kills: Tommy Ellis

20. Neil Quinley - Weapon: S&W M29; Allies: Kurt Falliwell, Lily Carmody

21. _Phil Raymond _- Weapon: Aluminum baseball bat; Allies: Alan Edwards, Jack Underhill, Pauline Thiessen, Eric Allen, _Charlie Davis;_ Killed by Tina Chen (stabbed in the chest)

GIRLS:

1. Cassidy Irving - Weapon: Lead pipe; Allies: Francis Baker

2. Jennifer Springer - Weapon: Ballistic knife; Allies: Manny Barrett, Bernie O'Riordan; Kills: Vicky Rivas

3. Heather Young - Weapon: Luger P08; Allies: Raphael Dwyer, Andrea Harris (prospective)

4. _Tina Chen _- Weapon: Butterfly knife; Kills: Phil Raymond; Killed by Alan Edwards (sniper round to the head)

5. _Katheryn Orville _- Weapon: Browning Hi-Power; Killed by Rachel Ferrer (strangled)

6. Finn Andrews - Weapon: Scissors; Allies: Oliver Velize

7. Donna King - Weapon: Hammer; Allies: Zachary Garrett (prospective)

8. Wendy Aurille - Weapon: Night-vision goggles

9. Andrea Harris - Weapon: Can of mace; Allies: Heather Young (prospective), Stacy Jenkins

10. Pauline Thiessen - Weapon: Hatchet; Allies: Alan Edwards, Jack Underhill, Eric Allen, _Charlie Davis, Phil Raymond_

11. Becky Hall - Weapon: Katana; Allies: Sam Jenson, Zachary Garrett, Quinn Gilroy

12. Lily Carmody - Weapon: Hedgeclippers; Allies: Kurt Falliwell, Neil Quinley

13. Rachel Ferrer - Weapon: Rope; Kills: Katheryn Orville, Michelle Pepper

14. _Elizabeth_ Chandler - Weapon: Handsaw; Allies: Quinn Gilroy; Killed by Daniel Masterson (machine gun rounds to the chest)

15. _Nora Lightman_ - Weapon: Louisville Slugger; Killed by Kurt Falliwell (machete to the head)

16. Ursula Murray - Weapon: Beretta M9

17. _Irene Baxter_ - Weapon: Steak Knife; Killed by Daniel Masterson (machine gun rounds to the chest)

18. Stacy Jenkins - Weapon: CZ75; Allies: Andrea Harris

19. _Michelle Pepper_ - Weapon: Scythe; Killed by Rachel Ferrer (shot in the eye)

20. Quinn Gilroy - Weapon: Tracking device; Allies: Sam Jenson, Becky Hall, Elizabeth Chandler, Zachary Garrett

21. _Vicky Rivas _- Weapon: Colt M1911; Killed by Jennifer Springer (shot in the head with a knife)

Order of deaths:

Boy #11 (original), Girl #17, Boy #14, Boy #15, Boy #18, Girl #5, Girl #19, Boy #17, Girl #21, Girl #14, Boy #10, Boy #11 (replacement), Girl #15, Girl #4, Boy #21

Projected end time: 7/18/2010, approx. 3 AM local time

Projected winner: Daniel Masterson

Other possible winners: Henry Shaw, Rachel Ferrer, Alan Edwards, Jennifer Springer

Comments: Unusually high number of alliances, which could either lead to an island-wide collar detonation or an all-out war; nature of the game doesn't seem to be sinking in just yet, but things could change.

Next update TBD

**(Author's note: TAKE THE NEW POLLS! They're on my profile.)**


	19. Escape, By Any Other Name

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 10:19 AM

Manny stood guard at the window of the library. At least, he was supposed to be, but all he could see was Mr. Hawley's body still sprawled out on the ground in a bloody heap. Mr. Hawley had been his favorite teacher, because he was the only teacher that ever helped Manny when his grades were struggling; French class was the only class where Manny was even able to get a B (a B+, to be exact). And now, the best teacher he'd ever had was dead.

These thoughts went through his head on a loop, which kept him off guard; someone dangerous could have capitalized if they noticed. Fortunately, Jennifer was the first one to notice, as she threw a book at him. "Pay attention dumbass," she snapped, "or you might as well shoot us yourself!"

Bernie looked up confused. "What the hell?"

"Manny's dozing off over there," Jennifer said, frustrated.

Manny looked back at her. "It's kinda hard to pay attention when your favorite teacher is lyin' dead out there!" Jennifer got up and walked over to him, now looking very angry.

"Look, I know it's hard, but there is no way that nearly half our class ISN'T dead by now; we already know the four from the announcement, not to mention George, and of course Elizabeth, Vicky, and Mr. Hawley. So that's at least EIGHT dead. By the announcement, I expect that we'll be down to twenty-five of us still alive, twenty-six at the most." She then grabbed Manny by his shirt and pulled him close. "So if you wanna be around to hear the next announcement, wake the fuck up!" She then pushed him away. Manny then snarled at her, and walked back to the window.

Jennifer sat back down with Bernie at a makeshift work area they created out of rusting stools and a medium-sized crate used as a desk. Having found an almost unused book on one of the shelves, they were communicating in silent by writing in it.

**Are you sure? Do you really think that there could be something here? **Bernie wrote.

**It's an old WW2 fortress**, Jennifer responded. **They'd be prepared for anything: invasion, nuke, whatever.**

**But that's like 70 years ago! Why would they leave shit here?**

**There are still unexploded mines in the jungle from 'Nam, why not a couple here?**

Bernie shook his head. **But this was US soil. Besides, these assholes probably searched the place up and down just in case.**

Jennifer grinned. **Haven't you wondered what a library is doing on a military base in the middle of the ocean? I think there's more to this place. Maybe even more than they know about!**

Bernie looked at her skeptical, as she continued writing. **Are you giving up that easy?**

Bernie shook his head.

**Good**, she wrote. **Let's pull every book off these shelves and search them for clues.**

Bernie nodded. "Hey Manny," he said.

Manny looked over. "Let's switch places," Bernie said. Manny then went over at sat down across from Jennifer and looked at her, still resentful.

"What?" Jennifer asked. "You're not still upset about that, are you?"

Manny glared at her. "I don't appreciate being treated like a bitch."

Jennifer got angry again. "And I don't appreciate having a lookout who won't look out for trouble." Bernie looked over at them, getting nervous at the direction the argument could go.

"I'd like to see you try and pay attention to anything but a dead friend if they were lying out there!"

"It'd be easy for me!" She was now shouting.

"Oh yeah I forgot, you always were a cold bitch!"

Jennifer then raised her gun and pointed it directly in Manny's face, causing him to point his revolver at her.

"I saved your ass," Jennifer said angrily, "and this is how you repay me? Go fuck yourself!"

"Well if I'da known I'd get treated like this, maybe I would've—" Manny was cut off by Bernie throwing a book (the same book that Jennifer had thrown earlier) at the wall beside them, making a loud and resonating thud.

"Shut up! Both of you!" Bernie was furious at them. "We all need to keep our heads! This is how the game works; this is how they get to you! They want us to panic. They want us to turn on each other. But I'm not gonna do that. And I'm not gonna let you turn on each other either! IS THAT CLEAR?!"

Manny and Jennifer put their guns down. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

But Jennifer didn't say anything. "Jennifer?" Bernie asked. "Are you okay?"

Jennifer then picked up the thrown book and threw it at the wall again, and immediately put her ear to it.

"Jennifer? What the hell?" Bernie was lost. Jennifer then turned and looked at the guys.

"It's hollow," she said.

Bernie and Manny stared at the wall in shock. "Could there be a hiding spot in there?" Manny said with a wink.

"Maybe," Jennifer replied, winking back. "Bernie, keep watch, Manny, help me with this." Bernie ran back over to the window while Jennifer and Manny began pushing on the wall. After a moment, it started to give, and they pushed the wall in like it was a door. After the room was finally opened, Manny grabbed his flashlight and turned it on, illuminating the room. Manny was about to say "Wow", but Jennifer put her finger on his mouth to keep him quiet and then mimed "Shh!" with her other hand over her mouth.

"Anything?" Bernie asked.

Jennifer turned around and said, "No, it's just an empty room," while nodding her head yes. Bernie then walked over and looked in, and was shocked at what he saw.

"Yep, must've been cleaned out seventy years ago," he said as he looked at the goodies in the room, which included, above all else, a box of grenades.

…

Francis and Cassidy put their clothes back on, their first (and last) sexual act now over. Even though both had enjoyed it, neither knew exactly what to say, particularly in the middle of this game, so things were awkward for a moment.

"So," Cassidy said, breaking the silence, "how was it for you?" She felt stupid for asking, and regretted it after she did.

Francis smiled. "It was fantastic…what about you?"

Cassidy smiled back. "It was…magical."

After a moment, she started to cry. "What's wrong?" Francis asked.

"It's just…why do we have to be here? Why did this have to happen to us? It's not fair!"

Francis looked at her. "Who says we have to stay here?"

Cassidy looked up confused, as he continued. "I don't have it in me to hurt anyone, especially you. I'm not gonna let someone shoot me or stab me so that I can bleed out at a snail's pace. No, I want it to be fast…"

Cassidy knew where he was going with this. "…and that's why I'm gonna run right into the school zone. Quick and painless."

Cassidy stared in silence. She was about to tell him he was crazy, but then she realized that it would be crazier to stay in this game, killing her friends, possibly suffering a brutal death or worse.

"I can't…" she said.

Francis nodded. "I understand. Play to win for me, okay?"

"That's not what I mean…I mean that I can't stay here. I can't do this. I need to get out of here, however I can. So I'll be running with you."

Francis began to cry himself. "Let's get outta here then."

Not bothering to pick up their bags, they left the room…and were immediately greeted by Daniel.

"HEEEEY! The class couple! This must SUCK for you guys, huh?" Francis and Cassidy were terrified. They had always been afraid of him, but this game was the place to fear him the most.

"Wh-what do you want?" Francis asked, trembling.

"Well first," Daniel said, "I wanna congratulate you on your big finish there—hey girl, how you feelin'? Must be sore I bet—and I also wanted to say goodbye. So, uh, yeah, goodbye." He then smashed his machine gun into Francis's face and then grabbed Cassidy and slammed her into the wall. Francis then got up and lunged at Daniel, who fired off one round into Francis's thigh. Francis screamed in pain as Daniel taunted, "It's a flesh wound you whiny bitch!"

He then picked Francis up and threw him over the railing. Francis fell about twenty feet and landed on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

Back upstairs, Cassidy punched Francis in the back of the head and knocked the machine gun out of his hands, and then ran down the stairs to Francis; Daniel was actually impressed. She turned him over and asked, "Are you alright?"

Still dazed, Francis told her, "Run, just get away from him!"

"But what about—"

"GO! I'll keep him busy."

Suddenly, Daniel began firing. Francis rolled underneath the balcony Daniel was firing from, while Cassidy ran for the door. What are you thinking? Francis thought to himself, wondering why Cassidy isn't taking cover with him. But then, Francis had another thought. A horrible realization, to be exact. She was running for the front door, where the bear trap was still located.

"CASSIDY!" Francis screamed. But it was too late.

Cassidy wasn't thinking clearly; she just wanted to get away from Daniel. As a result, Francis's bear trap being set at the door slipped her mind, and she got her right foot caught in the trap. She screamed in pain as Francis struggled to get to his feet. Suddenly, Daniel jumped down from the balcony and landed right on Francis's back, knocking the wind out of him again. Daniel then walked over to the exit where Cassidy was trying to pry the trap loose. But, she couldn't, because the pain was unreal. Daniel then kicked her in the hip.

"I love the irony," he said evilly. "Ten minutes ago, you were getting fucked. Now, you're getting fucked again." He then started laughing, while Cassidy continued to cry.

"Please, don't kill me," she said as Francis got up. Daniel then started to mock her crying, saying through fake sobs, "I'm sorry, but I need to." Daniel then fired a volley of bullets into Cassidy's chest and head.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Francis then ran at Daniel. Daniel had earlier said that he would only kill one member of the class couple (as well as only one of each group/pair he could find), but Francis had a look of fury in his eyes. With five inches and about twenty pounds on him, Daniel realized Francis could very well beat him to death, so a sense of self-defense kicked in, and he unleashed another round of bullets into Francis's chest, arm, and leg, sending him to the ground.

"I'm sorry Francis," Daniel said. "I didn't wanna kill ya, but you ruined it. You missed the big picture: I made you a contender! You could've used that anger to win this thing, or at least do well. But that's your own fault." Daniel kicked Francis's body on the last word, and then left the customs house.

What Daniel didn't realize was that his vision, his belief, his taste of "art" wasn't gone yet.

Because, despite a total of ten gunshot wounds, Francis was still alive.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17, #10, #11, #21**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14, #15, #4, #1**

**Eliminated**

**Cassidy Irving**

**27 Contestants Remaining**

**(Author's Note: TAKE THE POLLS! I know I said that in the last chapter, but no one's taken either yet, so I'm pimping them again.**

**At the very least, I'd like some more reviews.)**


	20. Determination

Saturday, July 17, 2010. Local time: 10:40 AM

**A box of granades? **Bernie wrote, his poor spelling skills coming through.

**Yes, grEnades**, Jennifer wrote snidely.

**How'd they not know?**

**Old Addie isn't as smart as he thinks he is.**

**Addie?**

Jennifer gave Bernie a dirty look. He then nodded, understanding.

**This, my friend, is our ticket out of here, if we play this right.**

Jennifer then stood up and walked over to the box. She counted six grenades inside, and picked one up to get a feel for it, but something felt off about it. She had never held a grenade before, but she imagined it to be heavier. Bernie and Manny watched her in confusion as she shook the grenade. Both boys trembled, worried that something might go wrong.

"Um, Jennifer?" Bernie asked meekly. "Could you maybe..." he was afraid of spilling the beans, "…take it easy?"

Jennifer then frowned, as she pulled the pin on the grenade and threw it at the boys. They both ran for cover, and Manny actually aimed his gun at her, until he realized that there was no explosion. Bernie looked at the grenade, and realized it was a dud.

Jennifer still stared, frowning, and then kicked their makeshift desk over angrily.

"It's my turn to stand guard," Jennifer said blankly. She picked up her gun and walked to the window, looking completely defeated.

…

Francis woke up.

Still in an excruciating amount of pain from the ten bullet wound he had along the left side of his body, six of which were still inside him, he got himself onto his knees, looked at Cassidy's body, and let out a hellish scream.

"Daniel…" he said in a gruff whisper. He now had a place in this game. He was going to get his revenge on Daniel if he had to do it with his dying breath.

He got himself onto his feet painfully, and staggered over to Cassidy's corpse.

"I'm gonna get him for you babe," he said as he picked up her lead pipe (which Daniel had discarded after seeing how ridiculous it was). Francis then made his way to the woods, his every step causing him more pain.

…

"Francis is up sir," Omar said to the Administrator. "And he wants Daniel dead."

"Beautiful!" The Administrator said gleefully. "This is the kind of drama this game is made of. The drama the world will hinge on when we're done."

"You really think this'll work?" Richie asked. "I mean, we'll be easy targets."

"That's the risk we took when we decided to take this program over. But the Risers won't be stopped even if we somehow get caught." He paused. "A couple months from now, Newfoundland's New Order will convert half the world once they realize the threat we pose. We can hit anyone at home. And won't a few people complain that their government didn't even try to save their own children."

Richie and Omar smiled, realizing that the world is almost in the palm of their hands.

**Dead**

**Boys**

**#14, #15, #18, #17, #10, #11, #21**

**Girls**

**#17, #5, #19, #21, #14, #15, #4, #1**

**27 Contestants Remaining**

**(Author's Note: Short chapter I know, but having just discovered that my story has made it to [specifically, Battle Royale's FanFic Recommendation page], I wanted to post SOMETHING. Besides, this is the first chapter in a while in which I killed no one off, and I'm happy about that.)**


End file.
